Jidai Time
by ElenaNJ
Summary: Crossover with Cosmowarrior Zero, translation. We are in 2984 and the Earth Federation is shocked: Tadashi Daiba, its beloved Prime Minister, has been murdered by a man identified as... Harlock! Warius Zero, back from a long mission, is contacted by Yuki Kei and asked to accomplish the same task he was given fourteen years before: capture Harlock.
1. Why?

_Partings and meetings come and go._  
_Today, the travelers who fell,_  
_Will rise and start walking again!_  
_(Yumi Matzusawa - Jidai)_

- Who are you? Who sent you?  
Tadashi Daiba stepped back.  
The fragments of the lamp gave a faint crack under his feet .  
A drop of cold sweat trickled down his cheek as he clutched his bleeding hand to his chest.  
The dark figure, still in the doorway, did not answer.  
The sudden flash of a lightning lit up the room for a moment and he gazed, unbelieving, shocked.  
- No... that can't be...  
The man stepped forward, came out of the shadow and was lit by the milky glow of neon lights filtering through the window.  
A cold light shone into his only eye, the same one that lit up with a metallic sheen the smoking barrel of the Cosmo Dragoon he held tight between his fingers.  
Despite the pain in his hand testified it was all true, Tadashi wondered if he hadn't fallen asleep, and if that was nothing but a nightmare due to weariness and concerns.  
- Why?  
The man remained silent. His index placed itself on the trigger.  
The words of a song came to Tadashi's lips. It was the same the man he now faced had sung a day seven years before, in the midst of a wild jungle, with enemies everywhere and only him by his side, so terrorized he thought he would have gone mad.  
A few stanzas and the warmth of his back.  
It had been enough to make all fear vanish from his heart.  
It had been enough to save his life.  
Since then, Tadashi had always hummed that song every time he had to face what appeared to be an insuperable problem, whenever fear or discomfort threatened to overwhelm him.  
The memory of that voice and of the warmth of that back were always able to cheer him up.  
The man didn't turn a hair. He took a step further and pointed the gun at his chest.  
Tadashi knew he had no way out: what had been his Cosmo Gun until a few moments before was now a mosaic of fragments scattered on the floor and stuck in his hand, the Dragoon was in the jacket, out of his reach... and his opponent was an unerring shooter.  
As in slow motion, the man pulled the trigger.  
A sharp pain tore him, body and soul.  
He stopped singing and collapsed on the floor. His eyes filled with tears.  
- Why, Captain?

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto._  
_All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you!_


	2. A lonely toast

As he always did before landing, Warius Zero straightened his hat and the collar of his uniform.  
The sunlight caught him by surprise and for a moment he stood, dazzled.  
A violent slap on the back nearly had him tumbling from the gangway of the Karyu and made him choke.  
- It's nice to come back home, right, Captain?  
- Yes, Mr. Kaibara... - Zero coughed in an attempt to gain time and compose himself the best he could, but someone put an arm around his neck and made him lose his balance again.  
- Come on, Captain! Now that we are landed, why keep on being so formal?  
Zero raised an eyebrow.  
- We are still in the Base, _Mr._ Ishikura. Actually, we have not even left the ship.  
- Come on, Zero, loose a bit ! After six years on mission in the remotest reaches of the universe we all deserve a little fun, right?  
- I agree with them, Captain.  
- _Mr_. Grenadier and _Mr_. Eluder, remember that rules and hierarchy should be respected until...  
- Enough, Captain Zero! This is a mutiny! - Marina kissed his cheek and suddenly lowered his hat over his eyes among the general laughter.  
Zero decided to capitulate and smiled, amused and embarrassed at the same time at his subordinates.  
He put one arm around Marina's shoulders and the other around Ishikura's neck.  
- Okay, guys: I surrender and, as a sign of peace, I offer everyone a round of Heavy Red Barbour and Hyper Oil!  
- That's the right spirit, Captain! - Rai beamed - What are we waiting for? Let's celebrate our return to Earth! If it's still standing, there's a pretty good spot not too far from here! - he walked with enthusiasm, followed closely by Breaker, Nohara and Dr. Machine.  
In the few years they had been absent, the capital was reborn: new buildings had been built in place of those destroyed by the war against the Mazone and the air was filled with the cheerful, hopeful atmosphere that always accompanied reconstruction.  
In a small but tastefully decorated and well equipped bar, Zero granted himself for the first time in six years a toast with his men... his friends, indeed.  
- To the Earth, to life that goes on and to those who, with their courage, allowed us to start over.  
- Cheers!  
- Cheers.  
He looked down on the full glass in front of him and hit it with the one in his hand, a solitary, bitter-sweet toast, full of nostalgia.  
- Cheers, Harlock. Wherever you are.  
As he touched the glass with his lips, a boy perhaps fourteen or fifteen years old raced over their table and stopped in front of the bar.  
- It's terrible! - he gasped - The Prime Minister Daiba is dead!  
A surprised murmuring rose from the other tables.  
- What!  
- How did it happen?  
- He was shot in his studio... last night... They just said it on the Federation News' Channel!  
Some women and a couple of men bursted into tears. Everyone else gathered around the boy with faces that would not have been more afflicted if the accident had happened to their best friend.  
The young chief of the New Earth Federation was loved by all and admired even by his political opponents, who recognized his loyalty, his courage and his high moral values.  
Although Zero and his crew had been absent for several years, the stories of his tireless efforts in the reconstruction of Earth's civilization as a scientist and a statesman had reached the Karyu to the most remote corners of the universe.  
At just twenty-one years of age, Tadashi Daiba had become a symbol of hope and a model for all the good willed men, for all those who wanted to live freely and let their mark in history: it was the pride of every human, of each earthling.  
- But who did it? You know something?  
- Yeah, who's the bastard that killed him?  
The boy's face was ashen.  
- It's incredible, but it seems that the culprit is Harlock, his beloved ex-Captain!  
- The pirate Harlock? But wasn't he missing?  
- And why would he do such a thing? Daiba was his friend, he had him rehabilitated!  
The sound of breaking glass made everyone turn his head.  
It had slipped from Zero's shaking hand.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	3. Music among the tombstones

Black didn't suit Yuki Kei.  
It made her look even thinner and paler than she already was.  
She had the tired, beaten aspect of someone who hadn't slept in days: her beautiful blue eyes were swollen and shadowed.  
Zero understood her all too well: after the death of his wife and his son, he hadn't been able to sleep for weeks too.  
The few times guilt had given him breath long enough to close his eyes, he had been assaulted by horrible nightmares from which he had woken up in tears, shaking and soaked in sweat.  
It had taken years for his pain, remorse and sense of emptiness to leave room for a quiet, melancholic resignation and for him to feel ready to start living again.  
The commander of the honour guard approached the coffin and took off the cloth covering it: the New Federation's silver and blue flag. He folded it with few, quick gestures.  
Zero stood at attention and Yuki walked between the two rows of soldiers, a white rose between her tapering fingers.  
His heart filled with pity when she walked past him.  
She had been the one who found Daiba's lifeless body, and he could only imagine how she felt: there was nothing left of his family after the bombing of the capital and, perhaps, he thought with a tinge of remorse for his selfishness, it had been better that way, for him... for a while, at least he had had the chance to refuse reality and live under the illusion that, somewhere, his wife and his son were waiting for him.  
Yuki Kei was not even allowed that miserable way out.  
The memory of her dearest companion turned into a cold corpse in her arms would have haunted her all her life, and Zero understood all too well her requests, perhaps highly criticized by the media, not to set up a funeral home and to maintain the coffin closed for all the function.  
Yuki stood next to the crate, put the flower on the cover and touched it with a gentle caress.  
A small man with glasses and sparse, crew-cut moustache took the flag from the hands of the honour guard's head and handed it to her.  
Zero didn't miss the cold stare the former space pirate, heroin and scientist gave him when he squeezed her hand.  
Between her and the former Prime Minister Chīsanahito* there was bad blood, and no wonder: even if he now praised them at every opportunity, that man had been the one who had classified her, Daiba and all the rest of Arcadia's crew as class "Z" individuals, renegades, and had tried to exile them again in space even after they saved the cowardly human race from Mazone's invasion.  
Yuki nodded to the man operating the winch and the coffin began its descent into the pit with exasperating slowness.  
Zero braced the gun, turned it to the sky and fired three salvoes in perfect sync with the other forty-nine officers of the honour guard.  
The silence was broken only by the sobs of those who were weeping.  
Then, Yuki Kei walked away. She went back among the two lines of soldiers without wavering or looking back, and the ceremony ended.  
Zero decided to leave too. He had always hated what his father had always called with contempt "funeral talking", a mixture of gossip, judgements about the degree of pain or the clothes showed by the relatives of the deceased and empty phrases of circumstance.  
While waiting for the crowd to stream out, he decided to go on the tomb of his family.  
It was something he didn't do often: after all, under that tombstone there was just an empty box and he had never believed that a bunch of flowers on a stone could really change anything for those he had lost forever.  
He had trouble finding the place. The capital's cemetery had become much more bigger since the last time he had been there. He noticed that many of the graves were new, the images on it both of old and young people... and of children too.  
_The war..._, was his dark thought, _How stupid we are... all of us. _  
As he bent to sweep away the dried leaves and the white stones covering the plaque, a sweet, sad music reached his ears. He raised his head.  
The musician was a few feet away from him, leaning against the thin trunk of a cypress tree.  
She wore a long black trench coat over a suit of the same colour and could have been fourteen years old at the most. She was slender, with thick dark hair that fell almost to her shoulders and her round face was still the one of a little girl.  
Her brown eyes, however, were big and sad as an adult's, and their look troubled him deeply when it rested on him. She reminded him of someone, but he couldn't say who.  
She stopped playing. When she let it go, Zero noticed that his instrument was a twelve keys ocarina carved by hand in clay and tied at her neck by a leather thong.  
She moved away from the tree and walked toward him, without haste.  
- Are you the Captain Warius Zero?  
- Do I know you?  
- Not in person - the stranger shook his head - My name is Mayu Oyama.  
- Oyama?  
_Could she be..._  
- Many years ago, you fought the Hell Castle with my parents, Tochiro and Emeraldas.  
_Tochiro and Emeraldas' daughter!_  
Zero was amazed. _What is she doing here? Why is she looking for me? _  
Then, a sudden thought made him sweat. He looked around and grabbed her hand.  
Just a week after the murder of Tadashi Daiba, groups of angry fanatics had hurt several people, in their opinion related to Harlock and his accomplices.  
They were mostly ordinary people, actually: innocents who, after the war, had showed in various ways their admiration for the unlikely hero who had saved them all.  
_And she is the daughter of his best friends!_  
He pulled back the flap of his coat and with his free hand undid the lock element that ensured his service pistol to the holster.  
- It could be dangerous, here, for you. Where do you live?  
- I'm not in danger, believe me, Captain - Mayu broke free from his grasp with a smile – But I thought it would have been better for me not to show up at the funeral. After all, Harlock is still my tutor.  
- Tutor?  
Mayu nodded.  
- I thought you knew - her pretty face darkened - My parents are dead. It's almost thirteen years, now.  
Zero held his breath.  
_Tochiro... and Emeraldas too... dead!_  
He remembered the small, funny engineer who had given him a new coating for his Karyu and suggested him how to fix its cannon cooling system despite they fought on opposite sides and the beautiful, impassive pirate woman who once had even saved his life: he felt sad.  
- I didn't know. After the battle against the Hell Castle I made sure that our roads didn't cross any more.  
- I understand. In the end, my parents were space pirates and you a federal soldier. I know that you even had troubles for this.  
_How does she know?_  
Zero frowned.  
- What do you want from me?  
- Not here - Mayu shook his head and gestured to the rear exit of the cemetery - Follow me, please, Captain.  
Zero hesitated. Could he really trust that unknown girl?  
For all he knew, she could have been anyone, even a desperate hired by someone to lure him into a trap; after all, he was linked to Harlock, and far more than the poor unfortunates who had been caught up in those last, troubled days... not to mention he still had many enemies who wouldn't have minded going to see him under a tombstone like the one at his feet.  
A breath of cold wind hit them. Zero saw a twinkle under Mayu's dark coat.  
The girl didn't miss it. With the slow and measured motions of someone who knew well the reactions of a gunslinger to sudden movements, she pulled the weapon from its holster and held it up: it was a Cosmo Dragoon.  
- My father made only four more guns like this, in addition to the one which followed him on his last journey: one, he gave to Professor Daiba and later passed to his son Tadashi, another, my grandmother gave to Tetsuro Hoshino, another still belongs to Harlock, while this one... my mother left it for me before disappearing in space forever. I'm not going to use it against you, Captain, believe me.  
Her big eyes stared at him, determined and honest.  
Zero pulled his hat over his head and walked toward the rear exit of the cemetery.

_* Chīsanahito should translate itself literally "little/poor man", which, in my opinion, the Prime Minister (formerly here) is full: I accept corrections! ^ _ ^_

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	4. Mission: Capture Harlock Part I

The house was big and solid, with all the comforts but not luxurious: from the few, simple lines of the furniture and the absolute lack of frills, Zero deduced that the owner was someone who cared first and foremost for the substance of things.  
Mayu walked ahead of him, the confident pace of someone who happens to be in a totally familiar place.  
She knocked on a door and opened it before even getting an answer.  
Zero followed her inside and held a motion of surprise.  
Behind a large desk, Yuki Kei looked firmly at him before getting up and present him her hand.  
- Welcome, Captain Zero. Come in.  
Zero shook her hand, sat in the chair and watched her.  
She still looked tired, but she was totally different from the frail but proud mourning woman he had seen at the funeral: wrapped in a tight suit that played her lean and athletic body up, she looked like the invincible space warrior she had been up to five years earlier and that he had seen only in a few memorial images before that day.  
- Mrs. Kei. What do I owe the honour?  
- To your past, Captain.  
- Explain yourself better.  
Yuki pushed a button, typed a command and, on the holographic screen in front of him, appeared his personal record.  
- Warrius Zero, born February 21, 2948, graduated with honours at the Military Academy in the Officer Course of 2966. Appointed Captain of the space cruiser Karyu for merits on the battlefield after the death in action of your predecessor, you have been Commander of Fleet during the war against Mechanoids of 2968. Integrated in the Independent Squadron of the United Earth Fleet after a year on the patrol ship Mirage, in 2970 you contributed to the destruction of the Hell Castle threatening planet Teknologhìa, ending the power of Zeth Vorder's Extra-Solar Cosmic Government on Earth. Decorated war hero, you then left for several missions on the borders of the known universe, the latter of which has kept you busy for six years, from January 2977 until today.  
- With all due respect, Mrs. Kei, I already know who I am and what I did.  
- I'm sure, Captain - Yuki smiled - And with a CV like this, I'm sure you also know you should be Admiral, by now. Can you tell me why not, instead?  
- Because we lost the war against the Mechanoids - grinned back Zero - And because destroying the Hell Castle was not the mission I was assigned.  
- I see that we understand each other - Yuki typed a quick command and other documents appeared on the screen - Your mission was to capture the space pirate Harlock, which you never did. Your numerous reports, indeed, bring out the fact that you prevented your own men to capture him on Planet Heavy Meldar and let him leave again, that later we traded informations in more than one occasion and, finally, that you went so far as to ally with him to destroy the Hell Castle. Why?  
- I had no choice - Zero leaned back and stretched his legs - No spaceship of the Federal Fleet could come and help my Karyu and, even if not, it wouldn't have worked. Regarding Heavy Meldar, I couldn't stand to capture Harlock with a trick so unfair as the one my men brewed: he was an outlaw, right, but he didn't deserve to be taken by fraud. Moreover, it's not my style to resort to that kind of subterfuges.  
- Therefore, despite your merits, you were suspected of aiding and abetting, and processed by Court-Martial - another document appeared on the screen: a judgement of the Military Tribunal – Owing to the popularity gained with your deeds, they could not dismiss or disrate you, but made sure that your career could not progress any further... and you helped them by volunteering for low prestige missions in the most distant star systems. Why?  
- I see you know everything about me - Zero crossed his legs and folded his arms - I bet you also know why I did it, Mrs. Kei.  
- In fact, I think I do - Yuki Kei pushed back one of her blond locks with an elegant gesture of the hand - I know two other men who think just like you. You wanted to avoid meeting Harlock again because, then, you'd have been forced to fight to the death with him, a man you considered worthy of respect and, dare I say... your friend.  
- Exactly. And that's why I do not understand: what do you want from me?  
Yuki stood up and turned away. She remained silent for a while, looking out of the large windows that gave light to the room.  
- What do you think of all this story?  
- I don't know - Zero turned his hat in his hands - I can't believe Harlock could have done such a thing.  
- Me neither. Yet, the evidences are overwhelming - Yuki turned back toward him - Not just the video, but also the DNA and the retina scan identification collected by the security system of the Government Palace nail him. The Minister Chīsanahito has restored the code "Z" and the bounty on his head with immediate effect. Harlock is again a wanted man now and, if caught, he will be sentenced to death.  
Zero shifted uncomfortably.  
- I still don't understand my role in all this. I am considered and I consider myself a friend of Harlock, to the point that I decided to give up the career and face lots of problems rather than be forced to fight again with him: what's my purpose?  
- I'd want you to accept again the mission of capturing Harlock.  
- I wouldn't dream of it - Zero tried to get up - I'm really sorry for the death of Mr. Daiba, but...  
- Wait, Captain Zero - Yuki sat down at her desk - There's more. Apparently, Tadashi was not the only one to be targeted. It was some time that neither me nor him had news of many of our former crew-mates and today I got confirmation of my worst suspicions: there was no one of them at the funeral.  
Zero flinched.  
- You mean...?  
- I have not the certainty - Yuki ran a hand over her eyes - But if they could, I'm sure they would have come. They loved Tadashi. And then... it's not just them: it seems that all those who in the past have had links with Captain Harlock have disappeared into thin air.  
She took a long pause, as to allow her words to impress better in the mind of his interlocutor... or perhaps to avoid losing her control.  
- You and your crew could be in danger too.  
_My crew!_  
He jumped up. Many of them were certainly out of the Base, off duty... some by themselves.  
- Calm down, Captain Zero.  
- Calm down? And how could I? I just...  
- I understand your concern and respect deeply the friendship that binds you to your men, but I have not finished yet.  
- Mrs Kei, I'm sorry, but my answer is no. Despite everything, I still believe in the innocence of Harlock... and in any case, I don't want to be the one who will deliver him to the executioner.  
- I understand - Yuki turned off the monitor and rubbed his hands together - I would have preferred not to rely on this to convince you, but... Mayu...  
Mayu nodded and opened the door. Yuki stood up and followed her.  
- Come with us, please.  
They walked down a long corridor and a flight of stairs to the basement of the house.  
At a certain point, Mayu bent and rested her hand on the floor.  
A trap door, perfectly hidden among the rough blocks of stone that formed the room's floor swung open without a sound.  
The girl fell into it and so did Yuki.  
Zero followed them. It took a moment for his eyes to match the strong artificial light that turned on when the door closed itself over them.  
There was a faint smell of disinfectant in the air and few humidity.  
Apparently, the bunker was equipped with an excellent ventilation and air conditioning system.  
There wasn't a single speck of dust or a cobweb.  
After another short path up to a thick steel door sturdy as those protecting the engine room of the Karyu, Mayu unlocked another lock.  
A constant noise, similar to the one of a plunger, came to Zero's ears from the room behind it.  
The smell of antiseptic intensified, pinched his nose. He entered.  
- That's not...  
Zero could not believe his eyes.  
Lying on a bed, his chest and right hand wrapped in tight bandages and an oxygen mask on his face, Tadashi Daiba stared at him with interest.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	5. Mission: Capture Harlock Part II

Seen at close quarters and in those conditions, the Prime Minister of the New Earth Federation showed even less of his twenty-one years.  
He was a young man of medium height and build, with beautiful green-brown eyes and thick ash-blond hair, in that moment stuck to his forehead by sweat.  
Yuki approached his bedside and wiped his face with a handkerchief.  
- Please, sit down, Captain Zero.  
Mayu pointed to a stool and sat down in turn. She took in her hands one of Daiba's and gave him a worried look.  
- How do you feel today, Tadashi?  
- Much better, Mayu. Don't worry.  
He smiled, but Zero didn't miss his grimace of pain when he changed position to look at him straight in the eye.  
He took off his oxygen mask and let out a long, hoarse breath.  
- Of course you'll be wondering the reasons of all of this, Captain Zero.  
- You can say that again, Mr. Prime Minister. I just attended your funeral, along with the rest of the world convinced that you were killed by Harlock... and from what I see it is not so.  
Tadashi Daiba scowled and grasped the sheet hard.  
- Oh... It's the Captain who shot me. No doubt about it.  
- And how could you be still alive, then?  
- I have no idea – he shook his head - When he pulled the trigger, I thought it was really over.  
- And it's almost exactly what happened.  
A small, stocky little man in a white gown approached the bed and granted himself a big gulp from a bottle of sake. Zero had not noticed him before and wondered from where he popped up.  
The only believable answer was that he was hidden under the bed, but it wasn't possible... or maybe yes?  
A sudden weight on his knees made him wince.  
An old tabby cat gave him a mew and jumped on the bed of Daiba, who stroked its head.  
- Captain Zero, meet your namesake, Dr. Zero, former Ship's Doctor of the Arcadia and our collaborator in the design and construction of the hospital network of the Federation. Oh, and of course Mii, his cat.  
- That's really awful - the Doctor crossed his arms and his eyes moistened - I still can't believe the Captain could have done such a thing... to our Tadashi, moreover! Look!  
He opened the bandages.  
On the left side of the boy's hairless chest, on the sternum, stood the big, eye-catching scar left by the laser beam of a large calibre pistol, which should have passed him from side to side, at least.  
It looked horrible: the entrance hole was surrounded by jagged edges and the burned, blackened skin and flesh around it looked like melted, crumpled plastic. The sign of another cut, straight, thin and precise crossed the wound: the incision left by a scalpel, fastened with close points.  
The portion above the cut was red and swollen almost to the clavicle. It had to hurt like hell with every breath.  
- The shot has not disintegrated his heart by a whisker. At one point I feared I could not save him: he had lost so much blood and his left lung... ah, better not to think about it!  
The man drank another generous sip of sake and devoted himself to examine the wound.  
- Very, very well - he smiled - A couple of weeks and you will be able to eat normally and stand on your feet again, Tadashi. I've never seen anyone heal quickly like you. You still have that shot feeling in the chest?  
The boy shook his head.  
- Good, very good.  
Despite the obvious drunkenness, the doctor's hands were still and moved fast and secure as he dabbed the wound with a damp sponge and changed the bandage to his patient.  
- The Doctor was with me when I found him - Yuki sat on the edge of the bed - Thankfully...  
Tadashi squeezed his companion's hand and looked at Zero.  
- There is a reason for all this make-up and secrecy.  
- You have to remain hidden until recovered - Zero nodded - I can understand that. Harlock or someone else could give it another try, otherwise. Or, believing you are dead, he might betray himself, which, although unlikely, would be even better. What I do not understand is why organize false funerals, get treatment here instead of in an equipped facility and make all the world, your government's members included, believe your former Captain is a murderer.  
Tadashi stared him straight in the eye.  
- What I'm about to tell you must not leave this room – he took a deep breath - The truth is, Harlock was already suspected of being a murderer. Have you ever heard about Elpis*?  
- The space colony that blew up a year ago?  
- Yeah - Daiba frowned and Yuki's hand, still in his, trembled. He squeezed it again.  
Zero called himself an idiot.  
The Space Colony Elpis had been their plan to solve the problem of overcrowding on the Earth and the other planets of the solar system, still minimally habitable. Its failure and its hundreds of victims still weighed like a boulder on the conscience and the leadership of Daiba. And Yuki Kei was even more involved, since the original plan of the colony was her late father's work.  
He remembered the feeling he had experienced as the mechanoid ships passed the stricken Karyu to bomb the defenceless Earth and he felt bad for them.  
- Please, forgive me. I know how hard it is to feel responsible for the loss of so many lives. I did not mean...  
- No matter - cut short Daiba - The fact is that, according to some top-secret reports, a ship matching the description of the Arcadia has been spotted in the orbit of Elpis shortly before the explosion. According to one of these reports, its main cannon fired in the direction of the colony, straight to the point where the generator of gravity was located.  
- But that's impossible! They should have known ...  
- They should have known in detail how the colony was structured and how much fire-power was needed to cause the explosion. Right - Yuki's face was ashen - Granting that it was indeed Harlock's ship, which I and Tadashi refused to believe until the last, until... well, someone must have shown him where and how to hit.  
- Perhaps some insider ...  
- No one escaped the explosion - Daiba's voice was hoarse - I don't think that any leaker would have stayed here and die on purpose. The designer, Yattaran, wouldn't have done such a thing even for his life, and I'd put my finger on it, despite everything was said about him. There are only the members of my own government left. If there is a conspiracy at a so high level against us, you'll understand that we can't trust anyone. And that's the reason why you are here.  
- I understand. I'm the perfect pawn: my rank is high enough to allow me a broad range and, what's more, having been away from Earth for six years, I can't have any connection with your enemies. Moreover, in the past I already fought with Harlock... and I am among the few ones who survived.  
- I don't consider you a pawn, Captain Zero - Tadashi sighed - Apart from that, you are right.  
Zero stood silent for some minutes, thoughtful.  
- Sorry, I don't want it; I've already said it to Mrs Kei. After the Hell Castle, I swore to myself that, if ever came for me the time to fight with Harlock again, I'll do it only for myself, by fair means and not to take him to an executioner.  
- I understand that. This is another reason why we decided to address to you.  
- I do not understand, however - Zero jumped up - And I'm starting to lose my patience. Tell me what you have in mind once and for all, or I'm out!  
- Hey, calm down, Captain! - interrupted the Doctor - Despite his enviable strength, Tadashi is still recovering from a difficult heart surgery and must avoid strains.  
Zero sat down again. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.  
- I'm sorry, Doctor.  
- It doesn't matter, Captain - Tadashi raised a hand - The main reason why we want to be you to hunt down Harlock is precisely because you are his friend. Chīsanahito wants him dead. I want to understand why he shot me and if he is really involved in the explosion of Elpìs and the disappearance of the other crew members of the Arcadia.  
- Me too - Mayu grabbed his arm, her eyes full of tears - And I beg you to help us, Captain Zero. Tadashi is like a brother to me, and Harlock... no one can even imagine how important he is. I want to know what happened to him, why he disappeared and why now he behave like this... I can't believe... I can't believe that there's no reason, that he has become a heartless murderer!  
- Well, so you want to take him alive to interrogate him.  
Tadashi and Yuki nodded in silence.  
- I can't guarantee I'll succeed.  
- Does it means you will help us?  
Zero stretched an invisible crease on his hat and sighed.  
- I'd want to see clearly in this story too. But Harlock is not a man to be put in chains so easily, and he's not soft with those who get in his way, you should know it better than anyone else. There is the possibility that I'll be forced to fight until death with him, and if this happens...  
- In that case - Mayu pursed her lips - None of us would grudge, Captain Zero. Me neither.  
- I want to be given a free hand.  
- You'll have it - Yuki did not hesitate - What else?  
- The guarantee that my crew won't suffer any consequence whatsoever, regardless of the outcome of the mission. All responsibilities will have to fall on me alone.  
- I can assure you that.  
Zero stood up and shook hands with Tadashi.  
Despite his condition, his grip was firm and vigorous.  
- So we have a deal, Mr. Daiba. I will volunteer.  
- There'll be no need - Tadashi slumped back against the pillows, a suffering smile on his pale, sweaty face – Yuki has got many hooks both in the Ministry of Defence and in the General Staff. You'll be summoned soon for the official assignment of the mission.  
- Then I guess there's nothing more to be said - Zero stood up and pulled his hat on his head - I wish you a good and quick recovery, Prime Minister Daiba.  
- There is one more thing to say, Captain Zero. Thank you, and call me just Tadashi.

_* Elpis (or Elpìdos) is the personification of hope in Greek mythology._

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	6. A shadow in the night

Yuki woke up suddenly.  
Something was wrong.  
_Too much silence._  
No sound came from the garden of the house, despite the large group of government agents patrolling it by almost three days and four nights to ensure her security.  
They were a problem more than anything else: since their arrival she had had to be cautious in her movements and pay constant attention to theirs to avoid them discovering Tadashi, not to mention that, almost certainly, she was more skilled than any of them.  
However, she hadn't had the heart to object to their presence: such a move could have aroused her unknown enemies' suspicions while, instead, she had to keep on playing the role of a frail, helpless woman, shaken by a terrible grief and perhaps in danger, with her nerves shred to pieces.  
A shadow darkened the moonlight.  
For some reason, she felt sure it was not a cloud.  
She tried to regulate his breath as her hand ran under the pillow on the other side of the bed.  
Her fingers closed on the handle of her Cosmo Gun.  
She kicked the blankets and with a sudden dart threw herself on her side as three silver lightning tore the darkness.  
The sound of broken glass struck her in the deafening silence of the night and the smell of burnt tissue filled her nostrils: the quilt had caught fire.  
She took refuge behind the table and leaned forward just enough to observe her attacker.  
Through the smoke, the intruder was nothing but a shapeless black silhouette against the light on the windowsill.  
With a well-aimed kick, he shattered what was left of the window frame and came in.  
Yuki fired, but the shot didn't find its mark.  
She looked around in a cold sweat. She didn't see him any more. She didn't hear him move.  
- Get out!  
Silence. She hadn't really hoped him to fire a blank shot revealing his position, but in her years on board the Arcadia she had learnt to try all out, always.  
_An expert killer... and cautious, too._  
The door was a few feet from her. She sprinted.  
A burst of shots forced her to throw herself back down. She rolled behind the desk and turned it over. Her books, photos, and lamp fell to the ground.  
The intruder took the opportunity to move in turn. Yuki had a short vision of him in the dim light.  
He was wearing dark clothes and, from the physical structure, she deduced he was a man, not very muscular but quite tall. She fired again, one, two, three, four shots in close succession.  
He avoided them with a series of quick lateral movements, took shelter behind the cabinet and returned her fire.  
Yuki rushed back toward the door, head down, arms hight to protect herself from the flying debris raining down from every direction.  
She reached it. She went out into the hallway.  
Luckily, she had never wanted to install electronic locks to the doors... and luckily she didn't use to lock herself like Mayu.  
_Mayu!_  
Her heart quickened its beats. She stifled the urge to call her to make sure she was okay and hoped that the killer had sneaked only in her room.  
And that she was not in her room.  
That she didn't hear anything.  
That she had the good sense to go somewhere safe.  
She put aside those thoughts: she had to remain lucid.  
She ran towards the stairs.  
A shot touched her close and she felt a searing pain in her arm: the sleeve of her nightgown had caught fire.  
She clenched her teeth to keep herself from screaming and closed his fingers even harder on the handle of the gun: had she dropped it, it would have been the end.  
_Right now, it's my hope!_  
She climbed over the railing with a jump, landed in the hallway and rolled on the floor to absorb the fall and put out the flames. The lights switched on: the motion sensor had tripped.  
She got up breathless, pointed the gun at the stairs and began to step back.  
The floor was cold beneath her bare feet, her ankles ached.  
_I have to lure him into the garden... away from Mayu, away from Tadashi!_  
The front door had never seemed so far to her.  
She reached it just as the intruder touched the ground at the stairs' foot.  
Yuki fired blindly and lowered to cover herself while turning the handle, knowing that, at that time, she was too easy a target.  
The latch unlocked, she escaped by a whisker two more shots and went outside.  
The alarm system didn't show a sign of life... just as she feared.  
In the garden, everything was dark and silent.  
She continued to step back, the barrel of her Cosmo Gun pointed at the door.  
_Come on... Come out! _  
Yuki knew she was a good shooter: as soon as the intruder had set foot outside, she would have shot him the head: so close, sheltered in the darkness and with his silhouette against the light, she was sure not to miss.  
But the man didn't come out from the door.  
Too late she heard the squeaking: the study 's window.  
She pulled the trigger, but the man was already out. Again, she missed him. He returned her fire.  
Yuki leaned down, jumped back and all happened in a moment.  
Her heel struck against something solid, a bulky and slippery obstacle.  
She lost her balance, fell and hit her back, so hard that she gasped, breathless.  
When she recovered, the man was already on her. She looked at him.  
He was Harlock.  
She fired. One, two, three, maybe four times. None of his shots found its mark.  
Only the last cut off a lock of his long brown hair.  
_Stupid! I'm so stupid! _  
Her eyes filled with tears and she began to tremble. Not for her.  
_What will happen to Mayu and Tadashi, now?_  
Harlock grabbed her right wrist and twisted it.  
With a cry, Yuki dropped the gun and he kicked it away.  
She blinked to drive away the tears and looked at him again.  
A part of her, still, refused to believe the reality in front of her, hoping that Tadashi was wrong, that the data of the Government Palace's security system were altered, that whoever had written the reports on the explosion of Elpìs had pulled a boner.  
But this man had the face of Harlock, his look, even his smell... and had shot to kill.  
- Captain... Say it's not true!  
- Yuki...  
Even the voice was the one of Harlock.  
He let go of her wrist, grabbed her by the collar and put the barrel of the Cosmo Dragoon on his chest.  
It was burning hot, but to Yuki nothing mattered any more.  
She didn't want to see anything, didn't want to hear anything... and she had no longer the strength to fight.  
She closed her eyes.  
She heard a gunshot, but felt no pain.  
Harlock suddenly let go of her and something liquid and warm fell in her cleavage.  
- Stay away from her! Throw that gun or I'll shoot!  
Yuki opened her eyes.  
Horrified, she saw Mayu standing a few feet from them, the steaming Cosmo Dragoon in her hands.  
Harlock bounced back, a hand on his bloody shoulder.  
He hadn't let go of the gun.  
Inappropriate and sudden as a stab, the memory of him teaching her how to shoot and, vivid as she had head it then, his voice:_ "Your Cosmo Gun is like hope: hold it tight, always, never let it go... whatever happens. " _  
- Surrender, or I swear I'll kill you! - Mayu took a step toward them.  
Appalled, Yuki saw Harlock lift his right arm and aim. Without hesitation.  
- But you... - Mayu's voice broke - You are...  
- Mayu! Go away!  
Yuki threw herself on Harlock and managed to make him fall. She grabbed his arm and bit his wrist.  
More, more and more, until she felt the salty taste of blood on her tongue.  
He yelled, finally dropped the gun... but it was only a moment.  
He grabbed her hair with his left hand and threw her away as if she was a rag doll.  
He was too strong for her, she could never make it.  
Suddenly, the alarm sat off: the whole house and garden were floodlighting.  
Yuki had always hated the sound of those sirens, but at that moment they seemed like heavenly music to her.  
Harlock looked around. Yuki decided to take advantage of his surprise: she rushed forward, grabbed the Cosmo Dragoon still at his feet, got away with a somersault and pointed.  
The look of Harlock's one eye shifted from her to Mayu and then to the house.  
He hesitated a moment, gripped his injured shoulder, turned and, in a moment, vanished into the shadow beyond the gate.  
Yuki dropped the weapon.  
Now that the adrenaline was no more in circles, she felt cold, tired and aching all over.  
She looked around and shivered.  
The yard was littered with bodies, at least a dozen. Even the obstacle in which she had stumbled was a corpse... or rather, what remained of one of the guards. It was laying face down in a pool of blood that was beginning to thicken and stink and stained the hem of her nightgown.  
She tried to control the nausea and reached Mayu, who had remained still, her arms outstretched and the gun in her hand, as if petrified.  
She put a hand on her shoulder. As if she had just awakened from an horrible nightmare, the girl looked at her wide eyed, dropped the gun and took refuge in her arms. She was shaking like a leaf. Yuki patted her back and she began to cry desperately.  
- Yuki! Mayu! Where are you? - the worried voice of Tadashi shook her. He must have been the one to set off the alarm.  
- Tadashi!  
He was pale and sweaty, leaning against the door frame. She took Mayu's hand and ran to him.  
All he wanted was to throw herself into his arms, cry and scream, but she didn't.  
- It was _him_?  
Yuki nodded.  
Tadashi looked at the blood in her neck, at the bruises on her right forearm and at her torn, dirty nightgown; he frowned, clenched his fists.  
For a moment, Yuki believed he would have packed a punch at the door, but finally he released his fingers, put one of his arm around her shoulders, the other around those of Mayu and hugged them.  
- What should we do now? - Mayu sniffled.  
- We can't stay here any longer - Tadashi looked at them both with a face like thunder - Take the guns, let's get to the Doctor and say him to contact Zero. We have to change our plans.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	7. Destination: Heavy Meldar

- So, our task is to hunt down Harlock again?  
- Yes, Mr. Ishikura, exactly.  
Zero stared at his Lieutenant. All the years spent wandering through the cosmos on board of the Karyu and the many experiences in war and peace had somewhat softened his stubborn character but, still, he hadn't lost the habit of discussing orders and decisions, or worse, to ignore them and do it his own way when instinct said him so. Whenever Karyu's officers gathered and someone made a proposal, all eyes moved on him at once, waiting for some kind of dispute. He was "a first class pain in the neck", as Grenadier stated in more than one occasion, however, his objections had more than once proved to be reasonable or even useful.  
- But... Captain! We all agreed that...  
- Calm down, Ishikura - Kaibara grabbed a bottle of water from the table, ignored the glass in front of him and took a sip - I am sure that there is a valid reason if the Captain accepted this mission. Can you explain it, Sir?  
- Unfortunately not.  
Yuki had been very clear about it: no information on what she and Tadashi had revealed and on their agreements had to be divulged before take-off, and even thereafter the strictest confidence would have been necessary.  
When Dr. Zero had contacted him the night before to brief him on the latest events and explain the new plan, Zero understood why and had to admit that, in fact, the fewer people knew their course of action, the lesser risks they would have run into.  
However, he couldn't relax: indeed, he felt a bit guilty.  
He had always discussed with his subordinates every aspect of missions, all kind of issues regarding their ship and had never made a decision without consulting them and without making sure that everyone agreed on the measures to take. He felt a hypocrite: he had always wanted that on his ship reigned a trusty atmosphere and had always repeated to everyone that, between brothers in arms, no one had anything to hide.  
- I understand - Kaibara laid on his back and pulled one of his thick grey moustache – There's more to this than meets the eye. Just like the last time.  
- I'd rather have a vague idea of what we're going to run into - the tone of Eluder was expressionless as his mechanized face - If nothing else, to be ready at the right time.  
- I'm sorry I accepted this mission without consulting you first - Zero stood up, bowed his head and closed his eyes - But I assure you I'll do everything so that none of you have to repent. I only ask you to trust me.  
For a while, not a single sound could be heard. Then someone got up, walked over and put his hand on his shoulder.  
- You don't need to apologize, Zero - the voice of Marina - I trust you.  
- Right! - Grenadier slammed his fist on the table, so strongly that most of the bottles and glasses tumbled – You are the Captain, Zero. As far as I am concerned, you decide where to go and what to do: I'll follow you hot on your wheel!  
- I didn't mean I don't trust you, Captain! - Ishikura stood up - You know that I would entrust my life to you in every moment!  
- Same here - Eluder made a vague gesture of apology - And in any case I am a Mechanoid: I have good recoil abilities, whatever should happen.  
- I'm with you, Captain - Rai intervened for the first time - And I think it applies to everyone.  
- Thank you.  
For a while, Zero could not speak. He feared that his voice would have trembled too much.  
Marina sat back down.  
- We have some starting point? Clues?  
- No, unfortunately. The Command has received many reports from people claiming to have spotted Harlock and the Arcadia, but I believe that all are baseless and the result of panic or mythomania.  
- To be precise, there are three million eight hundred thousand four hundred and nine of them - intervened the metallic voice of Battlizer - Uniformly distributed both in the solar system and in the extrasolar ones.  
- Which - quipped Breaker - Were they all true, would imply that Harlock is gifted with ubiquity and the Arcadia with a navigation device far better than the jump to hyperspace  
- Damn! - Grenadier folded his arms and huffed - I wonder what happens, to people, when things like this occur.  
- What do you propose, Captain?  
- The best place to get information on anything - Zero turned on the monitor and projected the map of Andromeda star system - Is the planet Heavy Meldar, now as when we first ventured in this task. I suggest starting from there.  
- We're going back to Gun Frontier? - Grenadier seemed excited, as opposed to Ishikura and Rai. Eluder did not flinch, but it was impossible to tell what he thought until he expressed it with words.  
Zero nodded.  
- If anyone has not better ideas or valid objections.  
- You heard, pain in the neck? We're going to see Sylviana!  
Ishikura blushed to the roots of the hair.  
- What? Are you teling me you want to address to that viper again? Are you out of your mind? Don't you remember how it ended, last time?  
- Come on, Ishikura - Grenadier crossed his legs on the table, rocked back and winked at the Lieutenant – Don't you tell me that, after all these years, you still hold a grudge for that matter! These things happens.  
- If being threatened to get lynched by an angry mob for nothing to you is a "thing that happens", I do not dare to think ...  
Zero cleared his throat.  
- Order, gentlemen. Remember that we are on duty – he shot a severe glance to Grenadier, who immediately regained his composure - If no one has any objection to the destination, there are a couple other measures I want to discuss. First, my cabin will be closed and the access to it forbidden to anyone except myself until take-off. Thereafter, entry will be allowed only to those I'll authorize. I will move with immediate effect in the cabin of the Lieutenant. Easy, Ishikura – he smiled - I won't throw you off: all I need is a cot.  
- No problem, Captain.  
He seemed puzzled, but he didn't object.  
- The second, perhaps the one you will like the least: all officers are to remain on board until departure. No contact with anyone outside the crew and maximum secrecy about our destination even with them. From 22.00 to 06.00 tomorrow, also, the whole crew will have to remain in their quarters, with the only exception of the Doctor, the personnel guarding the engine room and the hangar and myself.  
A groan greeted his words. He could understand them: after six years dreaming leaves once back on Earth, that was really a low blow.  
- I'm sorry, gentlemen, but it's necessary.  
- Farewell, my jag - sighed Rai resignedly.  
- What a fuss! - Grenadier had a cheerful smile – It'll mean that, to thank us, our Captain will offer us another round of Red Barbour on Heavy Meldar and another at the end of the mission!  
Zero was grateful for his words, so much that he decided to turn a blind eye to the fact he had again placed his feet on the table.  
- I will, but we must keep us sober. Are there any questions? Objections?  
No one spoke.  
- All right, gentlemen. Thanks for everything, you can go. First Officer Oki, convey our destination to Mr. Nohara and order him to set up the flight plan and calculate the route. Doctor, you remain.  
When all were gone, Zero breathed a sigh of relief. He had expected much worse.  
Doctor Machine approached him.  
- What do you need, Captain?  
Zero typed a quick command and a long list appeared on the holographic screen .  
- I need you to provide these drugs and equipment, but without ordering them to the Headquarters or any other governmental structure. Can you do it?  
- Some of these things we have already in supply - the Doctor looked through the list, his synthetic brow furrowed - For the rest, I could use some of my old acquaintances. But, Captain, no one on board has problems that justify their utilisation.  
- I know, Doctor.  
- Captain, if you know of something I don't, you'd better tell me. This equipment and therapy combined may only serve to someone risking serious heart complications. If anyone in the crew is in those conditions, I advise you not to let him remain on board: I can not guarantee his survival to the jump in hyperspace... maybe not even to take-off.  
For a moment, Zero froze. Then he closed his eyes and breathed deeply.  
Sure thing, Tadashi and Yuki had already charged that eventuality on their account.  
He admired their determination.  
- Don't worry, Doctor. This falls under my responsibilities.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	8. Entries and leaves

Tadashi felt dizzy and stumbled for the umpteenth time.  
He gritted his teeth and cursed himself for his weakness; he would have had to force himself to eat despite the frequent sickness that seized him and even to take sleeping pills to rest adequately, but, above all, to stop taking these drugs that gave him so many side effects.  
Doctor Zero and Yuki, however, had been adamant on that subject, and it had already been hard enough to convince them that boarding the Karyu along with them was the only solution.  
- Is everything all right, Tadashi?  
He nodded to Zero. Despite his reputation as a fearless man, the Captain looked tense. Tadashi hoped he would really match up to his expectations.  
- We are about to enter the base. Be careful, stay in the shade as much as possible, do not take initiatives and let all the talking to me.  
Mayu and the Doctor remained silent. Yuki approached him.  
- Can you make it, Tadashi?  
He straightened up. He felt a fever and was sick again although he had not eaten anything since the morning before. His head was spinning.  
- I _have_ to make it.  
- Let's go - Zero pulled his cap on his head and walked in front of them.  
The sentry looked sleepy, but despite this he asked them to show their identification cards.  
Zero handed them to him and Tadashi hoped with all his heart to look like the Lieutenant Ishikura enough to be mistaken for him, at least in the dark.  
- Would you mind coming all under the spotlight, Captain? I don't see you well.  
Zero leaned against the glass of the guardhouse.  
- What is it, don't you recognize me any more, Lukas? Come on... I'm in a hurry.  
- What can I say, Captain - the sentinel stretched - In these days we are all on the alert. Since the Prime Minister got murdered, God rest his soul, controls must be even more scrupulous.  
- Come on, Lukas... I think this is the last place Harlock would want to set foot in.  
- You never know, Captain - he laughed - I think he would be crazy enough to try, if only the idea crossed his mind. And in any case, orders are orders, you understand...  
The man put the cards in his computer.  
Yuki groaned and the Doctor stifled a curse: that was the only hazard in their plan, and had failed.  
Even in the half-light and through the fogs of his daze, Tadashi could see Zero's back stiffen.  
It was in moments like these that he missed Yattaran the most: for a genius like him, penetrating the defence systems and manipulating the entry and exit records of the base would have been a child's play, a matter of minutes at most. But he had been the first to disappear, and now they had to rely on Zero's initiative.  
- Sir - Lukas scratched his forehead in perplexity – According to my data, First Officer Oki, Lieutenant Ishikura, Gunner Rai and Route Officer Nohara are still in the Base, on board the Karyu. Wait a minute, please. I need to check.  
Tadashi's heart quickened its beats. Not because he was afraid.  
He felt short of breath, his vision blurred and a strong dizziness made him stagger.  
_Oh, no... not now!_  
He saw all black and his legs buckled.  
He gasped and tried to cling to Yuki's arm, but failed.  
The Doctor tried to grab him before he collapsed, but it was too late. They both fell.  
- But what the...? - the guard's voice was alarmed - What's going on here?  
Tadashi summoned all his forces in an attempt to get up.  
No way. The legs couldn't carry him, his eyes saw nothing but shadows and the brain couldn't think of anything coherent. He heard a sound of hurrying footsteps, then someone grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and lifted him bodily.  
His head snapped sideways and he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his cheek.  
He rubbed his eyes and, when the fog dissipated, he found himself in front of Zero.  
- Mr. Ishikura! Are you not ashamed of yourself? - he looked really angry, he was even trembling.  
- Zero, what are you doing? - Yuki approached him and grabbed his arm.  
- Shut-up, Fist Officer Oki! Not only you disobeyed my order to remain on the ship until departure, not only you got plastered like recruits at their first leave, but you also dare to complain? Keep in mind that your brag will not remain unpunished: nobody of my crew goes AWOL * and get way with it, I thought that after so many years you all understood that! And now go back on board, at once!  
Zero abruptly pushed him into Yuki and Mayu's arms and walked with rapid steps toward the guardhouse. He turned to the sentry, the tone of someone who can barely restrain his anger.  
- Lukas, please, let us go and give me back the IDs of these scoundrels, or I feel I'm going to explode... I have never been so ashamed in all my life!  
The man hesitated a moment, looked at them and then again at Zero, uncertain; finally, he deactivated the alarm system and unlocked the door.  
Being careful to remain in the shadows, Yuki and Mayu supported Tadashi as he passed in front of the guardhouse. The Doctor followed them with his head down. He staggered a bit and, for a moment, Tadashi wondered if he was only pretending or whether he was serious.  
- So, what can we do with the registry? - the voice of the guard barely reached him, so much it was shaky.  
- I have no idea, Lukas, and I'll tell you more - chimed Zero - I'm really tempted to report! Four officers of a warship go AWOL for more than three hours and nobody but me notice anything! That's crazy!  
Tadashi admired his nerve. Hadn't he been about to vomit, he would have laughed.  
- Please, Captain, don't do it! - Lukas looked terrified - I can't afford a warning for failure in my confinement, especially not now, with this climate! I beg you, let's pretend that nothing happened!  
- I don't know - Zero's voice sounded really unresolved - I should not pass over such a negligence... But... Oh, all right, Lukas! I don't want somebody being caught up because of these fools. But be more careful from now on!  
- You can depend on it, Captain - he gave him back the IDs and snapped to attention - From now on, not even a fly will go out of here without me knowing, I swear it! Thank you, Sir!  
Zero gave him a quick nod and joined them, the quick pace and cadence of an officer in towering rage, a threatening frown on his grim face.  
No one inside the fence of the base dared to approach them.  
Only when they were safe from prying eyes, he took off his cap, wiped the sweat from his face and let out a long sigh of relief.  
- You're really a good actor, Captain - the Doctor whispered to his namesake - My congratulations.  
- But was it really necessary to slap Tadashi like that?  
- I couldn't come to think of anything else, Mayu. I'm sorry.  
- It's all right - Tadashi rubbed his sore cheek - Had he not done so, the guard would have come to check and we would have been discovered.  
- Are you better, now?  
- Yes, but let's hurry, please – in fact, he still felt dizzy.  
That man certainly didn't save himself with slaps: he hit hard at least like Harlock.  
At the thought of the Captain, the wound to his chest seemed to throb with more intensity.  
He gritted his teeth and hurried on.  
- We shouldn't have run so much - complained the Doctor – There was at least another week to wait before him doing such efforts...  
- There was no time! You saw what happened too! - curtailed Yuki - I wouldn't want Tadashi to run so many risks neither, but we have no choice: if we remain on Earth, we are all in danger! Mayu included.  
- I still can't believe it - muttered Zero between his teeth - What the hell is come over Harlock? Assaulting two women... _them_, what's more!  
Nobody found anything to add, and the little distance that still separated them from the Karyu was covered in an absolute, eerie silence, in the absolute indifference of the base's patrols.

* The acronym AWOL means Absent Without Official Leave and in military jargon (but also in everyday language) means "to disappear", leaving without telling anyone.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	9. Mayu's three treasures

Mayu switched the holographic screen off and the cabin fell silent.  
She snorted. She was tired of seeing Chīsanahito make appeals for her and Yuki's release on each channel with that false concern always printed on his face... and it lasted from Karyu's take-off: two weeks.  
- There he is, my substitute - Tadashi stopped nibbling his lunch and grimaced - A mediocre actor playing a part not suited for him... and who doesn't even dream trying to improve. I wonder how there can still be someone supporting him.  
- Finish eating, Tadashi. You have to regain your strength.  
- Bah! - another grimace - I don't have the nausea any more, but not feeling the taste of what you are eating does not help appetite, you know? If only we could avoid the medicine, just for today...  
- Come on, Tadashi, don't be a crybaby!  
- How strict we are! Here, happy? - Tadashi put in his mouth a big forkful of food with a flourish - You're getting more and more like Yuki, you know?  
- Strange, she claims I'm strong-headed and irresponsible just like you at my age.  
Tadashi coughed: the bite had gone askew.  
- Serves you right - Mayu went to the table and offered him a glass of water.  
- Don't make me laugh while I'm eating! - Tadashi had tears in his eyes and was red as a beetroot as he tried to catch his breath.  
- And you don't throw a tantrum! - Mayu giggled. He was so ridiculous that she couldn't help - Sometimes you look like a younger brother to me, "the man of the house" my foot!  
- Ah, finally a smile! - Tadashi grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his lap - It was about time!  
Mayu turned her head and looked at him in surprise.  
- You did that on purpose?  
He wrinkled his nose.  
- Who knows. But it's nice to hear you laugh again.  
It was true. It was good to laugh again.  
From the night Harlock had shot him, Mayu had believed she'd never managed to do it again.  
That pistol shot which had almost stopped Tadashi's heart had split hers in half: she loved Harlock like a father and Tadashi like a big brother, even if in their veins didn't flow the same blood. Perhaps, she loved them even more because of that. She leaned her head on his shoulder.  
- I'm afraid, Tadashi – she closed her eyes - I don't want to lose neither you, nor Yuki... nor Harlock! Will we ever get back like before?  
- I don't know - Tadashi stroked her hair - But I will do everything to find out the truth, I swear.  
Someone knocked on the door. Mayu stood up and looked around.  
The Doctor was sleeping like a log on his bed, still clutching the empty bottle in hand while Mii was sharpening her nails on his already worn out gown.  
She went to open. It was Karyu's Lieutenant, Shizuo Ishikura.  
- Good evening, Mr. Daiba. Ms. Oyama... - he looked up quizzically to the Doctor, then brought his attention back to Tadashi - I don't see Mrs. Kei.  
- She's in the other room - informed him Mayu - Maybe she's asleep.  
- Oh... well, no matter: I just wanted to inform you that we will arrive on Heavy Meldar in about twenty minutes. I will provide to send you the Doctor shortly before landing.  
- Thank you, Mr. Ishikura - Tadashi pushed away his plate and stood up - But I don't think I'll need it. I didn't suffer consequences neither during take-off nor during hyperspace jumps. Indeed, I'll tell you: I feel really strong. This short holiday on your ship has been good for me.  
- I'm glad.  
- Thank you for caring, though.  
- The Captain also wants me to tell you that, short after we are landed, we'll begin gathering informations: the first two groups will be formed out by me, the Captain himself and two other members. The First Officer Oki will remain on board to coordinate the operations: if you need something, just ask her. Every three hours is scheduled an update report via radio, every six the return to the ship to exchange with another group. We will keep you informed of all developments in real time.  
- Well - nodded Tadashi - Tell Zero we really appreciate what you are doing for us.  
- Yes, Sir! - Ishikura snapped to attention - With your permission, I'm going to prepare myself.  
He opened the door and went away.  
Tadashi stretched and tied the collar of his spacesuit. Dressed like that, he remembered Mayu the young pirate she had met seven years earlier, just a little taller and less rakish.  
- OK. I guess it's time to get to work.  
- We'll go down too?  
- No, I've already said it: it would be too dangerous. I'm officially dead while you and Yuki are missing. Everyone knows our faces and we could get Zero into trouble, if we went with him and his men.  
- Let _me_ go at least! I could dress-up like when we went...  
- Mayu: _no_ - Tadashi shot her a strict glare - I understand your desire to make yourself useful... I wish I could do anything but sit here and wait too, but we can't risk to jeopardize everything. Do you understand?  
Mayu lowered his head. Tadashi stroked her hair again.  
- Go to bed now. Tonight you and Yuki must be in shape and wide awake - he opened the door to the room where they were placed.  
Yuki was lying on his bed, turned on her side, an open book still in her hand. She didn't even flinch. Tadashi came up, leaned over her and took the book. He laid it on the night-stand.  
- Poor Yuki, you must be really exhausted. I'm sorry.  
He covered her with the sheet, touched her hair lightly and stood up. He had a sad expression.  
- It's not your fault.  
- Maybe - Tadashi clenched his fist - But I left her take on too many worries: lately she has done nothing but work, study a plan to get us out of trouble and stand by me, day and night. I've been not even a bit of help. And to make matters worse...  
Even if he didn't finish the sentence, Mayu understood what he meant.  
And to make matters worse, her beloved Captain had tried to kill her.  
She wondered if the sensation that Yuki and Tadashi had felt then was horrible as the one she felt every time she thought back to Harlock, her beloved, dear Harlock, pointing his gun to her.  
- I wanted to help her. But the only thing she allowed me to do was to contact Zero and stay with you sometimes. And I had to insist for that too. She even scolded me for saving her life.  
- She was right. Don't you do anything so rash, nevermore.  
Tears filled her eyes and she had to summon up all her might to keep herself from screaming.  
- But why don't you trust me? I'm not a child any more: I can look after myself.  
- I know - Tadashi's smile was a bit sad as he looked her down from head to foot - And Yuki knows it too.  
- But why, so? - she really didn't understand them.  
At her age, both Yuki and Tadashi were pirates. Their life, at that time, had been an unending series of shootings, battles in space, fights to the death, pitfalls and dangers of all kinds. Why, if they always made it, couldn't she do it too?  
- Why she and I would rather get killed a million times than seeing you at risk for even a second. If anything happens to you, Yuki would die. And me too.  
Mayu felt ashamed for thinking ill of them. She looked at Yuki and then to Tadashi.  
The tears she had tried to hold back came down her cheeks. They were no longer of anger. Perhaps, only a bit.  
- I love you, Tadashi - she threw her arms around his waist - But you are two fools.  
- I know.  
- You're both fools because I'd die too if anything happens to you.  
- I know - he drove her away from him - But now don't cry. Remember? I want to see you smile.  
Mayu wiped her tears. She handed him the glass of water on her bedside table and the two pills in her pocket.  
- Here, take your medicine.  
- Oh, no! - Tadashi made a melodramatic gesture - I was hoping you had forgotten!  
- No tantrums - Mayu reminded him with a smile.  
- Why two?  
- The Doctors said that for landing is more prudent to double the dose.  
With a shrug, Tadashi took the two capsules, put them in his mouth and swallowed.  
- Now go to bed, Mayu. You have been awake for more than eighteen hours.  
Actually, she had slept four or five between Tadashi's awakening and Dr. Zero's end of turn, but she didn't protest. She laid on her bed and let him switch the light off.  
When he left, she lit the lamp and sat down.  
On the table beside the glass there were her treasures: the ocarina and the Cosmo Dragoon.  
Each of these objects, every time she looked at them, called to her mind a flood of memories.  
The ocarina was inextricably linked to Harlock.  
She remembered the day when he first tied it around her neck as if it had happened a moment before, his smile tinged with sadness as they gathered the flowers for her father's grave and his hand, so big and strong, laying his bouquet with infinite delicacy at the foot of the cross, next to hers.  
That day he had risked his life just to stay a bit with her, just to give her that instrument... just to keep a promise he made her when she was five.  
Every moment spent together, since then, had been like this: a mixture of danger, serenity, music and unsaid things.  
Each time, she had desired he wouldn't come, but then ran at him with open arms, happy that he was there.  
Each time, she had wanted to ask him a lot of things and hear him telling about him, the Arcadia and his adventures in the cosmos, but then it always ended with her playing while he listened in silence, his one eye closed and his arms folded behind his head, lying in the grass or leaning against the trunk of a tree, his mind wandering somewhere.  
Each time, while playing, she had wanted him to go away immediately, and at the same time that he never had to leave.  
Then, one day, he had gone never to return.  
It was the evening of her ninth birthday, the day he had left her his mother's gun.  
Mayu cressed the weapon.  
More than Emeraldas, of which she had only some old photos and few fragmentary memories, it made her think of Yuki and Tadashi, and the time she started living with them.  
Yuki refusing to let her back in the care of Saint Joan's house-mother, her hands on her hips and a frown to send a shiver down anyone's spine on her angelic face.  
Tadashi climbed on a ladder, repairing the roof of what would have become her first real bedroom, sneezing and cursing because, the more he hammered, the more the hole in the ceiling seemed to expand and the dust to increase.  
Yuki cooking for her, her delicate hands cracked and full of burns.  
Tadashi playing with his harmonica the melody she always played with the ocarina.  
Yuki teaching her to distinguish between constellations and speaking about the star systems in which she had been.  
Tadashi playing with her in the snow and in the meadows as seasons followed one another.  
But, most of all, the two of them teaching her how to shoot, just with that gun.  
They had begun the day of her tenth birthday, the first in which Harlock had not shown up.  
She had been waiting for him all day and all night long. Somewhere in her heart, she had known he wouldn't have come and she would have never ever seen him again... yet she couldn't keep from bursting into tears when the clock had struck twelve strokes.  
At one point, they had put the gun in her hands, saying that it was time for her to take control of her life: they'd have taught her everything they knew and one day, when she had been ready, when they had built a new history for humankind as promised to him, they would have gone to search for him together.  
Sometimes, especially at first, Mayu believed that they had done all those things as a sort of demonstration of respect for their Captain, but at that moment, more than ever, she really felt they had become her family, and they had always cared for her. _Really._  
A glow reflected on the Cosmo Dragoon lying next to hers.  
Harlock's gun.  
She picked it up.  
It was very worn: the barrel was grooved and blackened in spots and most of the handle grips were faded and smoothed where he had taken it up in his hands. That weapon must have faced countless battles, and it showed it.  
That gun had fired the blow that nearly killed Tadashi.  
With that gun, Harlock had shot Yuki.  
That gun, he had pointed at her.  
She got out of bed and opened the closet. She pulled off the uniform Zero had given her to embark on the Karyu on the sly and a cap the Captain himself must have forgotten to take and put them on.  
She looked at Yuki, at the empty glass on the nightstand, at the basket in which she had thrown the blister of sleeping pills she had asked the Doctor Machine and only pretended to take in the days before and the napkins in which she had kept the dust she had poured into Yuki's glass and Dr. Zero's bottle.  
She felt guilty, but she had made her decision and now had to go through.  
- I'm sorry, Yuki – she gave her a light kiss on the cheek - I'm going to do a reckless thing that will make you worry again, but even if there was one in a million chance to meet him or understand what has happened, I must go.  
She fastened the holster at her side, tied her ocarina on her neck and went into the other room.  
Tadashi was asleep at his desk, his head resting on the forearm.  
Mayu brushed a lock of hair from his eyes and kissed his cheek.  
Of course, he would have been angry when he'd wake up.  
- I'm sorry, Tadashi.  
She looked at the time: ten to fifteen. She turned back one last time before closing the door behind her and she left with her three treasures: the ocarina, the gun and the thought of those she loved.

I apologize for the industrial quantities of sugar in this chapter (and for the errors in verbs' conjugation - past tenses are bitchy to me)!

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	10. Mr Ishikura and the women

Shizuo Ishikura fastened his seat belt, pushed the wind-shield's close button and started the engine of the Bullet Four number two.  
Beside him, Grenadier stretched his legs on the dashboard and began whistling a merry military march. He had diddled him: he had managed to had himself paired off with him him despite his protests and he knew that he would have tried to convince him to meet Sylviana.  
Ishikura lifted his eyes to heaven and started the engine in motion.  
He silenltly followed Eluder and the Captain to the Saloon of Gun Frontier.  
- Gun Frontier - Grenadier took a deep breath – So many good memories!  
Ishikura decided to ignore him, got out and went to meet Zero and Eluder.  
- So, Gentlemen, let's recap - Zero cleared his throat and adjusted his hat - The mission is one of pure reconnaissance. Objective: to obtain informations about the position of Harlock and the Arcadia. No fights, no personal initiatives, no damages to properties, persons or animals.  
He shot him a significant glare and he snapped to attention.  
- Yes, Sir!  
- The meeting point is fixed inside the Saloon in three hours exactly, at 18.00 o'clock. In case of problems to the vehicle or the equipment, state your position and wait on the spot. If you spot the target, my order is not to engage any fight: just put a tail on him, launch the agreed signal and wait for reinforcements. Is that clear?  
- Clear, Captain! - Grenadier had an ecstatic expression as he gazed at the Saloon.  
- Well, Gentlemen. Eluder and I will hear the local authorities and, in case of failure, Galaxy Express Railways' train drivers. To you are bounty hunters and local shopkeepers. See you here in three hours. Good job.  
- Same to you, Captain.  
With a quick nod, Zero went to the office of the Sheriff followed by Eluder.  
Grenadier hinted at the Saloon.  
- How about we come in and take a drink?  
- We are on duty and it's only four in the afternoon, Grenadier.  
- All right, pain in the neck - Grenadier snorted and folded his arms across his chest - Then kick the engine started and go to Sylviana's.  
- Over with this story again? - Ishikura felt his ears on fire - I don't agree, and you know it: we can't trust that woman!  
Grenadier looked at him and laughed.  
He had been the one who suggested to the Captain the idea of bounty hunters.  
To his misfortune, Sylviana was the most famous exponent of the class.  
- Come on, don't be shy, Ishikura! I know that you want to see her again too!  
- Yeah, like I'd want to see a viper – he muttered as he walked to the Bullet Four - And besides, who says she's still here after all these years?  
- What the hell, she's a bounty hunter! Where else might she want to stay?  
In fact, this was the perfect place: a frontier town in a frontier planet, a junction place for anyone travelling in space.  
It was the last sanctuary for anyone with dreams of freedom... or something to hide.  
"Gun Frontier... where real men always roam with guns in hand..."  
He looked around and, though he never quite understood why someone in the thirtienth century could desire to live like on Earth at the end of the nineteenth, he had to admit that it was, indeed, a fascinating place. With his immaculate uniform and that modern military vehicle, for a moment, he felt out of place.  
- And where the hell you popped up from?  
Grenadier's voice distracted him from his thoughts. He turned around.  
He was holding somewhat looking like one of their officers wearing the Captain's hat.  
Ishikura approached, looked at him and felt himself blanch.  
- What were you doing in the equipment's compartment, huh? Talk! - Grenadier slapped the hat, which flew to the ground.  
Thick shoulder-length dark hair fell on the stowaway's face.  
Grenadier's eyes widened.  
- But.. but... but...  
_That's it: now we're in trouble!_  
Ishikura looked around. Fortunately there were few people on the street and nobody seemed to notice them.  
_For now._  
He grabbed Grenadier's arm.  
- Let her go and get in, the both of you - he whispered as he gathered the hat and gave it back to the owner - Hurry!  
He started the car and walked away as quickly as possible, a whole slew of thoughts running through his head... and none of them good.  
- But this is Mayu Oyama!  
- Tell me something I don't know already, Grenadier - Ishikura swerved violently and took the road leading out of town - For example, how to explain this to the Captain.  
- You mean she has been on board the Karyu all this time? Perhaps together with Mrs. Kei?  
_If you only knew..._ he thought as he remembered the shock he felt seeing the two of them and the late Tadashi Daiba in the Captain's cabin. Even the unflappable First Officer Oki, at his side, had paled.  
- I can't tell you anything without the permission of the Captain - he said instead, his eyes fixed on the road full of potholes and rocks - Contact him on the secure line, Grenadier, and ask for directions.  
- No, please! Let me get off!  
- I can't, Miss. For your safety, you'd better go back quickly on the Karyu. This place is dangerous.  
- Please, Mr. Ishikura! I have to find Harlock. It's like a father to me... I want to understand what happened to him, talk to him ...  
- I'm sorry, but I can't let you put yourself in danger. You're under my direct responsibility.  
- Then at least let me come with you! I promise I won't try to run away or to do anything dangerous. With the two of you I'll be safe as in the ship. If Captain Zero will get angry for this, I'll take my responsibilities.  
- Sounds reasonable to me, Ishikura - Grenadier scratched his chin – Come on, let's please her!  
- Do not talk nonsense! - he swerved again to avoid a hole and took another, even more deep. The vehicle jerked violently - They're looking for her in the whole universe, in case you had forgotten. Plus, we are in one of the most dangerous places ever seeking the most dangerous men ever who, maybe, is gone mad and you...  
- Mad?  
Ishikura restrained.  
_What an idiot I am!_  
How could he had said such a thing right in front of _her_?  
He looked at her. As he had feared, her large brown eyes were full of tears.  
- Ishikura! - Grenadier grabbed him by the collar - Look what you've done!  
- I didn't mean...  
Mayu sobbed. Grenadier raised a fist.  
- I'm sorry!  
- I should knock the living daylights out of you - Grenadier let him go - But I'll settle for you to take us to Sylviana.  
- But...  
- Without further ado, or I'll tell the Captain that you mistreated this lovely Miss on purpose - he grinned - Not to mention that you didn't notice she was hidden in the equipment's compartment.  
_Bastard!_  
- You didn't notice that either - he growled - And the Captain ordered to contact him in case of problems.  
- No - Grenadier held up a finger with a proud smile on his face - He ordered to contact him in case of problems with the equipment or the vehicle and to confine ourselves to shadowing Harlock if by chance we found him. Nothing like that happened.  
Ishikura ran his hand over his face. That man was impossible.  
And he remembered the the mission specs only when he wanted to. Or when he found it convenient.  
- Do you realize what will happen when they find she's missing from the Karyu? Do you realize that the Captain will kill us with his own hands?  
- We'll be back soon - he assured him - We go to Sylviana, ask her about Harlock and then contact Zero. If he order it, we'll take her back. All we have to do is to pretend we didn't notice anything until then.  
_Why every time I come here with him he get me into trouble? Why do I still listen to him? _  
Mayu looked at him from the back seat. She had dried her tears and watched him expectantly.  
_And why, when a woman looks at me like this I can't resist? _  
- Damn – he mumbled, his cheeks burning as he turned right to the path leading to the house of Sylviana – The Captain will kill me.  
- Yes... definitely he won't restrict himself to give you a punch, this time.  
- Thank you, Grenadier.  
For a while, no one spoke. Fortunately.  
They reached Sylviana's hut in less than half an hour.  
Despite his hopes, it seemed still occupied: there were curtains on the windows and the lights were on, not counting the small jet with the bounty hunter's personal symbol parked under a shelter of metal sheets.  
_A kind of horse, a heart and a comet ..._  
To be a ruthless bounty killer, Sylviana still had a surprisingly frivolous and childish side. Ishikura knocked the door. No one answered.  
- She's not in here – he spread his arms - Now call the Captain, Grenadier.  
- Let's get in.  
The former mercenary approached, bent in front of the door, pulled a crowbar and a box-cutter from his pocket and began fiddling with the lock.  
- Are you crazy?  
- Why? - Grenadier shrugged - Here you can do all you want: all it takes is just to be able to. And I'm a specialist with these old bolts.  
- The Captain ordered us not to do harms - he wanted to cry. Or to smash his head. Perhaps he would have done both things, hadn't there been that girl at his side.  
- So? I don't want to tear her house down. Just to get inside.  
The lock clicked. Inside, the sound of running water.  
Apparently, Sylviana was in the shower.  
Ishikura blushed again.  
_Look in what absurd situations I always get myself in... _  
- Hey, Sylviana! Are you there? - Grenadier knocked on the bathroom door. No response.  
They waited a few moments.  
- Maybe she felt faint - Mayu spoke for the first time since they arrived - I could check.  
- No way, Miss. You are under my direct responsibility.  
- Then I'll go - Grenadier put a hand on the doorknob.  
- No!  
Too late. For a moment, Ishikura prepared himself to the shriek and the launch of objects that surely would have followed. Instead, he saw Grenadier startle several times and fall to the ground.  
_Electricity?_  
He kicked the door open. On the other side of the handle there was a terminal connected to a generator.  
In the room, no one.  
- Looking for me, tin toy soldier?  
He turned. Sylviana was behind him, pointing the gun to Mayu's head.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
__All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	11. Heavy Red Barbour

Zero wiped the sweat away from his brow and looked at his watch: five forty.  
- Mr. Eluder, it's better we set out - they had to meet up at the Saloon in less than an hour.  
They hadn't gone nowhere fast: the sheriff had died a week earlier in a shoot-out and his Deputy was out to settle a dispute for some property issues, while the Galaxy Express controllers and drivers they had questioned hadn't been useful either; Harlock and his Arcadia seemed to be vanished into thin air.  
_I wonder if Ishikura and Grenadier had better luck._  
He excluded it, otherwise, they would have already contacted him. Or at least he hoped so.  
Walking back to Gun Frontier as night fell brought him back in time, with Tochiro, Emeraldas and a twenty year old Harlock with still both eyes, and to a far away toast with an enemy who, he had thought then, in other circumstances could possibly have become his best friend.  
He remembered that night: they drank Heavy Red Barbour on the rocks, had a long talk about their ideals and the reasons that drove them to fight and finally they promised each other to fight like real men, with loyalty and respect, among the stars or anywhere the fate and their choices would have brought them. It was a pity that their methods were so different and irreconcilable: that man had his exact same dream and the pure heart of a true warrior.  
_Or so it was then..._  
While the the city central square loomed before him in the evening light, Zero thought that life was really strange.  
So much time, so many adversities and now he was back at the same point of departure of fourteen years earlier, engaged in the same mission. He laughed to himself as he knocked on the Sheriff's door.  
- Come in!  
A strong smell of oil penetrated into his nostrils when he entered.  
The Deputy Sheriff Carson was sitting at his desk cleaning his gun, an old cylinder model he didn't know.  
He looked up from his work and stared at him askance: Federation soldiers were not well-thought-of around there.  
Zero took off his hat and held out his hand.  
- I'm Captain Warius Zero of the United Earth Fleet. He's Mr. Ax Eluder, Pilot and navigator of the Karyu.  
The man ignored his gesture, took a little pull-through from the work-desk and carefully passed it down the barrel of the gun.  
- What can I do for you?  
- Provide us some information, if you have it - Zero dropped his hand along his side and sat down in front of him - I'm on a mission on behalf of the Federal Forces Central Command: my objective is to track down and arrest the space pirate Harlock.  
Carson put down the pull-through and grabbed a cotton cloth.  
- Finally they woke up down there - he rolled the cloth around a metal stick and stuck it in the barrel, too - Too bad it happens only when some big wheel between them is involved.  
- Please?  
Carson pulled out the cloth and examined it. It was still white.  
With an imperceptible nod, he used it to cover the barrel and went to the drum.  
- A year ago, a month after the explosion of Elpis, Sheriff Lund asked support for two cases of disappearance occurred here in Gun Frontier and connectible to Harlock - Carson picked up another pull-through, poured the solvent into the drum chambers and began to brush them vigorously - Well, you know what your superiors answered him, Mr. Captain, and Mr. Pilot? That since this is a free city on a free planet he had to solve it by himself, that there was no material evidence that those people were who he thought them to be and much less that Harlock was involved in that massacre, only baseless rumours!  
Zero rolled his hat in his hands.  
_Another mystery? That's just all we needed... _  
- Who were the people missing?  
- No less than two leading former members of of Harlock's crew, arrived here with the Galaxy Express and vanished in less than twenty-four hours - Carson examined the drum front and began to rub it too - I lost count of how many reports Lund sent to your Ministry of Defence fearing that that pirate was putting back together his band of cut-throats for who knows what reason, but he was ignored: the Minister even called him a visionary. And now you dare to ask for my cooperation?  
- Just a moment, Mr. Carson: two former members of Arcadia's crew? As far as I know, none of them ever came on Heavy Meldar in the last three years.  
- You know no far enough, then – the Deputy Sheriff took a swab of copper and began to brush and wipe the drum of the gun - I have personally seen one of them getting off the train and leave with someone wrapped from head to toe in a black cloak and I have the passport of the other in my filing cabinet - he pointed to the bulletin board on which the posters of wanted were hung – He travelled under an alias, but after all the years with their faces hanging before my very eyes on that wall along with the one of their Captain, I can't be wrong: they were the Navigator Yattaran and the Chief Engineer Maji.  
Zero's eyes widened. Neither Yuki nor Tadashi had mentioned nothing of that kind.  
- As far as I know, they went missing about one month after the explosion of Elpis, but on Earth; no one ever mentioned the Galaxy Express or this place.  
- If so, somebody is hiding you something, my dear Captain - Carson laughed while he wet with a drop of oil the triggering and rotation devices of the drum - Before launching yourself on Harlock and his crew, I advise you to figure out who to trust among yours!  
Zero remained silent while the Deputy Sheriff removed the cloth from above the barrel, soaked it with solvent, passed it on the gun and felt the timing: the rotation was fluid.  
He closed the weapon with a deft flick of the wrist, put it in the holster and stood up.  
- Well, I have to go. And you too.  
- Could I see the passport? - Zero stood up in turn.  
Carson went to the register, meddled a bit with the drawers and handed him a folder.  
Zero opened it: inside there were documents, a pair of Galaxy Express tickets and some pages, certainly typed with an old typewriter.  
_Only in Gun Frontier..._  
- All we have found is in there, along with poor Lund's reports. It's all yours.  
- Thank you - Zero put his hat and walked towards the door.  
- How long will you stay, Captain?  
- All the time I need, Deputy Sheriff. Pleased to meet you.  
Eluder kept him the door open as he left.  
- What an irritating man.  
- At least he gave us what we wanted without fuss - Zero looked at his watch - Mr. Eluder, return to the Bullet and contact both the Karyu and Ishikura, then reach the meeting point.  
While he sat out towards the Saloon, Zero tried to set his thoughts in order.  
_I advise you to figure out who to trust among yours! _  
Carson's words continued to echo in hid head.  
He wondered who could possibly have interest in covering Maji and Yattaran's trip to Gun Frontier and why.  
Then, a thought crossed his mind: to do that, whoever it was, that person must have at least a lot of power, a hook on the upper floors of the Ministry of Defense and the possibility of influence the media, given that none of that had filtered out and that even the Prime Minister himself seemed to know nothing.  
Tadashi's theory of a conspiracy within his own Government seemed to take shape... Zero didn't want to believe the one lying was him.  
He entered the saloon and sat in a corner table, his back against the wall and his eyes on the door.  
It was unlikely that someone could try to attack him from behind or that a shoot-out could catch him off guard and maybe that habit was something paranoid, but he always preferred to have a complete view of the place where he stood.  
The customers were few: it was too early for dinner and there were no shows in schedule, it seemed. All the better: he could take stock of the situation with his men in peace.  
He opened the folder the Deputy Sheriff had given him.  
What leaped out instantly at him was the photo on the passport; the name was different, but Carson was right: that man was certainly the Chief Engineer of Arcadia, Maji.  
The ticket and the seal were dated September 16, 2983.  
Elpis had blown up in August and the man went missing at the end of that same month.  
He was the Director of the Harlock Refuge for War Orphans, a benefactor adored by all almost as Daiba, and it caused a sensation.  
_I have to talk to Yuki and Tadashi... it's useless to conjecture now. _  
He closed the folder and stared at the wall clock: 18.20.  
No trace of Ishikura or Grenadier.  
_Where the hell did they get to? _  
He drummed his fingers on the table. He hoped for them they hadn't gone into troubles and prepared between himself a nice little speech about the importance of punctuality in missions as he watched the bartender going back and forth between the tables.  
It was not the same he had met fourteen years earlier.  
He wondered where he was. Probably, under three feet of earth. The thought saddened him.  
Then his attention was caught by the client with whom the bartender was talking at that moment: he was dim and completely wrapped in a dark, torn coat, sitting with his back on the wall opposite the door on the other side of the room, a full glass in his hand.  
At one point the bartender nodded and disappeared behind the counter, then walked to his table.  
He placed a glass in front of him: Heavy Red Barbour. On the rocks.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
__All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	12. Black cloaks, fights and other mysteries

- Put down the gun. Slowly.  
A drop of sweat fell on Ishikura's cheek, from temple to chin.  
Sylviana's gaze went from his hand, which had drawn the gun even before he knew it, to his eyes and then to Mayu's head.  
- Look, sorry if we entered in your house like that, but we had no bad intentions. We...  
- Put it down - she pressed the barrel closer against Mayu's temple and passed her left arm around her neck - Or the kid, here, come to a bad end!  
Ishikura threw a quick look at Grenadier. He was on the floor, still unconscious.  
_Stupid, useless brute! First, he get me into trouble, and then... Look at him!_  
He took a deep breath, leaned over and rested his weapon on the ground. He raised his hands.  
- Now kick it away.  
- Okay, you win, but don't hurt him - he kicked the gun - Take me, instead.  
Sylviana laughed, a coarse girlish laugh who reminded Ishikura of fourteen years before. She stepped back and turned the gun on him.  
- And why should I, if I can have you all?  
- On the ground, Mr. Ishikura! - Mayu clung with both hands to the arm of Sylviana, tag at it and pulled her head down.  
With a lightning movement, she placed her left leg behind the one of the bounty hunter, hooked it and using it as a guide rotated one hundred eighty degrees, bringing her enemy wih her.  
Surprised, Sylviana lost her balance and fell on the back.  
She pulled the trigger but the shot only pierced the ceiling's planks.  
Ishikura sprinted, one thought in mind: retrieving the gun.  
It was not far, but it seemed it took an eternity to him.  
With the corner of his eye, he saw Mayu throwing himself over Sylviana and put one knee on her wrist to lock it and disarm her; she moaned but did not let go of the gun.  
A click from under her sleeve and in her left hand there was a dagger.  
Mayu jumped back just in time to avoid being scarred by Sylviana and pulled out her Cosmo Dragoon. The attention of the bounty hunter was all on the girl and Ishikura took advantage to move behind her.  
- Hold still, Sylviana! - he put the barrel of the gun on her neck - And lay down your weapons.  
Sylviana hesitated for a moment, then dropped the knife and the gun.  
She got up and slowly undid her belts, then looked at Mayu.  
- Congratulations, brat. I didn't expect that a mite like you could know how to get out from a rear choke hold.  
Actually, Ishikura didn't expected it neither: that little girl looked so sweet and harmless...  
_Instead, here's another raving lunatic. Have fun trusting women!_  
- Believe it or not, Sylviana, we don't want to hurt you, so take it easy, okay?  
_More than anything else I _can't_ hurt you, or the Captain will kill me twice... maybe three. _  
- So what the hell do you want? - Sylviana stepped over Grenadier and went to shut the shower off.  
Ishikura followed her with the gun in hand, bent down next to the former mercenary and put two fingers on his jugular. The heart was still beating. He heaved a sigh of relief.  
- Informations. What do you know about Harlock?  
- Ah, I understand - she giggled - So, the great hero Warius Zero has decided that after fourteen years it's about time to complete his mission! A little bit lazy, but better late than never...  
- Look out to what you say - he admonished.  
Sylviana sat on the edge of the bathtub and looked at Mayu.  
- I see that you carry a nice surprise. We could do a lot of money if we bring her back on Earth, my dear tin toy soldier - she crossed her long legs and stared at him from head to foot, languid - You know that, on closer inspection, you're really cute? Seriously, I wouldn't mind a nice vacation just to get to know each other better...  
From where he stood, Ishikura could enjoy a generous view of her charms, emphasized by her provocative dress, now wet in several strategic places.  
He was certain she had calculated everything, even that he would have bent over right there.  
He looked away and hoped that the heat he felt coming up to his cheeks was not too clear on his face.  
- That won't wash with me, Sylviana – he stood up, gave Grenadier a slight kick with the toe and pointed the gun again.  
- Oh, all right, but it's you the one who drop the ball – she winked and approached him. She smiled - Especially because you are trapped!  
Ishikura turned and saw them. The two men had arrived without the slightest noise, shielded from the front windows, the only point from which he couldn't see them.  
They surrounded Mayu from behind, guns drawn, and were positioned so that he couldn't hit them without the risk of involving the girl... not counting that woman ready for anything behind him.  
As for Mayu, at that distance she could never have managed to turn around and knock them flat before one of them was on her. From Grenadier, no sign of life.  
_Damn!_  
Sylviana placed herself in front of him, put a finger on the barrel of his gun, made him lower it and planted a kiss on his lips.  
- It might be our last goodbye, little tin toy soldier. I'm so sorry!  
- How did you...?  
In response, she went to retrieve the belts and refastened them.  
The heart shaped buckle which closed them was flashing.  
Sylviana pressed it on the edges and the shimmering stopped. A silent alarm.  
_She was trying to gain time... and I fell for it like a sucker! What a viper!_  
- Shouldn't _you_ be the one protecting us, Sylviana? - one of the two men approached him and disarmed him.  
He was short, noticed Ishikura, hooded and wrapped in a dark coat.  
He was holding a Cosmo Gun, the weapons of Harlock's pirates. He was in a cold sweat.  
- Sylviana, don't tell me you're in cahoots with these people!  
- You know... they proposed me a very good deal.  
- News for that thing? - the other man came up and pushed forward Mayu. His face was covered with a handkerchief.  
- Nothing, sorry - Sylviana spread her arms - The sum is still not enough. Not for what you want.  
- Forget it, for now. We must think of these three. Boy, carry your friend on your shoulders and don't play nasty tricks. Same to you, Miss.  
Ishikura obeyed. It took an enormous effort and the help of one of his captors just to be able to lift him. Even if he wanted, and he didn't want not to put the girl in even more danger or the Captain would have killed him for the fourth, fifth and sixth time, with the weight of that brute on his back he could never "play nasty tricks."  
_I knew we had to call the Captain and bring her back on board. Why things like this always happen to me?!_  
They got out of the house and Sylviana handcuffed them before pushing them into the Bullet.  
- Now we go to find the Boss, tin toy soldier.  
They lowered a hood over his face. Tied and without knowing who was in front, behind or beside him, he felt really helpless. The frustration came upon him, the journey seemed never to end.  
When they finally stopped, they made him walk a long way still in the dark.  
At one point, the heat of the sun was replaced by a fresh and moist air, with no current.  
_A cave? _  
They forced him to sit down and finally freed him from the hood.  
He looked around. He was right: the place had to be a disused mine.  
In the large underground room in which they were, were piled in disorder several cases of food and perhaps weapons, cots and clothing and, something that seemed totally out of place, a harp.  
Grenadier and Mayu were beside him. The two men took off their hood and handkerchief and Mayu paled.  
- Maji! Yattaran!  
He looked closely at them and recognized the former First Officer of Death Shadow II.  
According to the Captain, the two of them had disappeared from Earth more than a year before and were feared to be dead. What the hell were they doing on Heavy Meldar? And what was up there?  
He didn't understand: how was it possible that their former friends were all become criminals without scruples and wanted to bump them off? What the hell was going on?  
- Yattaran, Maji, I'm Mayu! Don't you recognize me?  
Maji looked at her.  
- Do you think it's really her?  
- We can't tell for sure. Mayu has been missing for many weeks, you know. And they've already tried.  
- But the Boss will brilliantly solve the situation, right? - Sylviana straightened her hair with a elegant gesture of her tapering hand - I don't know about the girl, but I think the other two are who they seem to be. Only that behemoth of Grenadier and that rookie there could be so stupid to fall in those old tricks.  
_God, how I hate her!_  
He was about to follow suit to that viper when a high hooded figure entered the room from a side corridor. Ir was wrapped in a long black coat and on its shoulder was perched a large bird.  
Ishikura sweated cold.  
_Could it be... him? _

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
__All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	13. Sparkles at sword point

Zero looked up.  
The man in the black coat turned toward him and lifted his glass.  
The dim flickering light of oil lamps cast a troubling shadow over his face, disfigured and half-covered by a long tuft of hair which didn't entirely hide the missing eye's patch.  
His heart raced as if trying to get out of his chest.  
_Harlock!_  
He already knew how his appearance had changed in those years: he had seen his pictures in the news and his photos on the wanted posters, yet, to see in the flesh how time had changed the young pirate he had known many years earlier gave him a strange sensation.  
His brain told him it was him, but to his heart he looked like a stranger.  
He got up and joined him at the table, his hand on the holster below his long officer jacket.  
He sat in front of him.  
- Hi, Zero - Harlock emptied his glass in one gulp - Don't you want to drink with an old friend?  
- Not until you explain what you're up to, Harlock.  
- There is nothing to explain. I do what I have to.  
Zero stood up, slammed his fist on the table.  
- What you _have to_? You're no longer the person you were, Harlock: blowing up a colony full of civilians, shooting your friend Tadashi and trying to kill Yuki and Tochiro's daughter... little more than a child! What the hell came over you?!  
- Keep your voice down, Zero. You don't scare me - Harlock looked into his eyes, a cold light in his one pupil – You and I, alone, in the Death Valley. With Gravity Sabres.  
- Harlock...  
- To the death, so you can adjust our old score. Or at least try.  
Any lingering doubt about his identity disappeared.  
Only Harlock could remember that far away promise.  
- There's no other way?  
Harlock shook his head and stood up. Zero followed him toward the rear exit of the Saloon.  
They walked side by side in silence in the light of a blood-red sunset.  
Soon, on the rocks of Heavy Meldar, it would have flown for real: his or Harlock's.  
Perhaps it was written in fate that day would have arrived.  
He remembered Emeraldas' words: "I feel that one day this man will try to kill Harlock with all his might."  
Yes, he would. And then he would cry for a friend... or never ever shed a tear again.  
The Death Valley was not far from Gun Frontier, but it looked like another world.  
A narrow and quiet gorge, surrounded by high cliffs.  
At the bottom of it, scaffold's strings swayed ominously in the wind; there was the smell of death in the air, for real.  
It was there that he and Harlock had met in the flesh for the first time, on a starry night like that promised to be.  
_That's fair. Here it has began and here it will end. I will fight fairly, but I must do my duty, even if I shouldn't make it. _  
He pressed a button on his clock. He prayed that Ishikura, Grenadier and Eluder were far away from there and arrived when all was said and done, however it would have ended.  
He wasn't proud of what he was doing; he deserved a punch like the one he gave Ishikura that night of fourteen years ago.  
Harlock stopped, unsheathed the Gravity Sabre. He did the same.  
They saluted and then hurled against each other.  
Zero took a sudden lunge*, but the only thing he obtained was to tear up a little more the already tattered cloak of Harlock, who dodged with a quick shift to the right.  
He had expected it: he had responded that way even the first time they had duelled and, in his place, he would have done the dame move: their fighting style was very similar.  
He remembered reading in Yuki's files that, before he decided to rebel against the system, Harlock was an officer like him. Perhaps he had even attended his same school.  
He couldn't even imagine him in uniform.  
He turned.  
Harlock attempted a cut-over *, the left leg slightly bent, the bust following the direction of the arm.  
Zero downed and the blade, instead of cutting his throat, whipped the air above his head.  
His hat fell to the ground.  
_He means business. _  
He counter-attacked with an upright * from bottom to top, but Harlock parried it without difficulty.  
Zero stood up and grabbed the Gravity Sabre with both hands. He pushed with all his forces until their faces were so close that he could feel his opponent's breath.  
- Give it up, Harlock! It's better for you!  
He didn't answer. He stepped back, the weight poised on the right leg and pushed him away.  
Zero stumbled and fell to the ground.  
He rolled to one side just in time for not being pierced from side to side.  
He heard the hiss of Harlock's blade behind him as he tried to stand up.  
Still on his knees, he placed his his right hand ninety degrees near the blade and the knob on the left, tilted the sword on his shoulder to form a window from which he could see his opponent and parried the blow of Harlock just in time.  
He turned around and hit mezzano* aiming at the legs of his opponent.  
He jumped back and resumed his on guard position. Zero stood up.  
He was panting, but the same was true for Harlock. The light and the sweltering heat were declining: soon the sun would have gone down behind the rocks. He wondered how much time had passed since they had left the Saloon and where his men were.  
At that time, Eluder should have noticed his absence and alerted the Karyu.  
He attacked again, a furious series of blows in all directions: slash, mezzano, ridoppio, imbroccata and sgualembro strikes*, he gave the bottom of his entire repertoire. Harlock didn't spare himself too.  
Their blades emitted sparks in the more and more darker air every time they crossed.  
He was good, he had to admit that... a true master, agile, fast and precise, very self-confident.  
He was also strong: he fought mainly one handed, and Gravity Sabres were weapons heavy almost as rifles, only better balanced.  
Zero despaired of managing to disarm him: although disadvantaged by his blind eye's reduced visual field, Harlock parried all his shots while he felt more and more tired.  
He decided to risk his all: he lowered his guard, threw his sword away and flew at his opponent. He wrapped his arms around his knees hoping he hadn't the readiness to hit back or cut his throat.  
It went well; he managed to surprise him and threw him to the ground.  
As he had hoped, Harlock brought up his weapon in an instinctive defence move.  
Zero went above him, clenched the more he could the hand with which Harlock drew the Gravity Sabre and grabbed the blade with the other.  
He screamed in pain when the edge of the sword cut off his palm and fingers, but he gritted his teeth and tried to block his opponent with his neck under the blade.  
A trickle of blood drippled down the throat of Harlock when the blade, sharp as a razor, touched his skin.  
- Enough of this madness, Harlock! Give it up!  
He moaned for a moment, bent his right leg until his foot was on his sternum and pushed him away with a kick. The violent blow sent him flying several meters.  
The rough impact with the ground and the blow he had received just below the diaphragm left him breathless.  
Harlock got up and ran toward him. Zero backed away.  
He threw himself to the side and was lucky: he avoided the thrust of Harlock and ended near his Gravity Sabre.  
He grabbed it and struck.  
He injured Harlock to the knee, not deeply but enough to slow him down.  
He stood up, ready to return to the attack.  
The handle of his weapon was slippery with blood, his hand was hurting.  
He thought he might be forced to fight with the left.  
He gritted his teeth. He was on the spot.  
Harlock walked over to him.  
He was limping a little, but Zero knew that now he was dangerous like a wounded tiger.  
In the absolute silence of the valley, the unmistakable noise of a laser gun being armed reached his ear. He saw a glint in the rocks above them.  
From the cliffs, someone shot.

_* SLASH: Stroke given vertically, from top to bottom; it strikes the head or shoulders_  
_upright/uppercut: Stroke given vertically, from the bottom up; it strikes the "intimate" parts_  
_MEZZANO: Stroke given horizontally with the blade plate; it strikes shoulders, hips or knees._  
_SGUALEMBRO: Stroke given obliquely from top to bottom with an angle of 45 °; it strikes shoulders, hips or knees._  
_RIDOPPIO shot: Stroke given at an angle from the bottom upwards, with an inclination of 45 °; it strikes shoulders, hips or knees._  
_LUNGE: Stroke given horizontally, it strikes the torso._  
_IMBROCCATA: Stroke given horizontally, it strikes the neck or face._

_Perhaps all these notes are a bit boring, but Zero is a skilled fencer (and a very punctilious officer) and I thought it was more realistic to make him use "professional" terms (which happens to be mostly italian words, it seems: I looked for english synonyms but found nothing)!_

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
__All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	14. Cavalry is coming!

Marina Oki closed the connection with the hold, rubbed her temples and looked away from the screen. The stocking operations were almost finished.  
She looked at the time: there were a few minutes to 7.00. Still no news from Zero and Ishikura .  
- Don't worry, First Officer - Kaibara laid on the chair and turned toward her - Zero can take care of himself... and also of his men, if necessary.  
- I know – she raised her hand to show him that everything was OK - But this waiting unnerves me. Usually, he's so punctual...  
- He must have had some mishap, or maybe Ishikura got in trouble and he's giving him a dressing-down: you know how polemic is that guy and how a stickler for discipline is Zero.  
- I hope so - Marina laughed - I can't wait to leave this place!  
She rose and stretched her arms. Her shoulder and back were numb and her toes were aching.  
All she wanted was taking a shower and lie down a bit in her cabin, but the work ahead of her was still very much: she had to inspected the hangar and the engine room, check the loading and unloading records, the inventory of weapons and the maintenance team reports.  
The operation on the ground took precedence, though: she could not devote herself to other things until Zero or Ishikura had called.  
In addition, she and Rai were to replace them a few hours from there, hadn't they found anything.  
She felt a vibration in her pocket.  
She pulled out the radio and looked at the display: the call came from the Captain's cabin.  
_An emergency?_  
- Mr. Kaibara, please replace me for a moment.  
She exited the bridge and headed for the cabins. She put her hand on the electronic lock and waited for the retinal scan.  
When she entered, Yuki Key was walking back and forth nervously while Dr. Machine was bent over Tadashi Daiba with a syringe in his hand. Dr. Zero was sitting on a chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose.  
- What happened? He felt faint?  
- Worse - Yuki looked at her, a worried expression on her pale face - Mayu drugged us all and disappeared. I fear she got ashore. One of the uniforms we used to dress up and get on board is missing from the closet.  
Daiba let out a whimper and tried to open his eyes, but they immediately rolled in their sockets.  
-This is indeed the effect of a narcotic – Dr. Machine rubbed Daiba's right forearm with a cotton swab and the smell of alcohol made her nose pinch - I'm sorry, I was the one who gave them to the girl.  
- It's not your fault, Doctor - Yuki stopped and watched the syringe penetrating the skin of his companion before looking back to her - But we must find her before someone recognizes her and she get in trouble.  
- What a mess - Marina chewed her thumbnail - Neither Captain Zero nor Lieutenant Ishikura have returned from their mission yet. I'll contact them and ask them to look for her... I don't think she's gone too far. I'll also start a search on the ship. In that regard, I ask you to authorize me to make your presence acknowledged by the rest of the officers.  
- Okay - Yuki nodded - But hurry, please.  
Marina ran out of the cabin and reached the main bridge.  
On the main screen she saw the face of Eluder and the silence told her immediately that something was wrong.  
Her heart began to beat faster, but she tried not to show it.  
- What's happening?  
Kaibara turned toward her, his face ashen.  
- Eluder says that the Captain is gone.  
- And Ishikura and Grenadier too, for that matter – added the Pilot with a funeral voice.  
- What? - Marina paled - How could such a thing happen, Eluder?  
- The Captain and I took possession of certain informations, so he sent me here to contact the other group and you without too many people around. I gave you a first update a short time ago, then I tried to call Ishikura: he didn't answer and almost an hour has passed since he and Grenadier should have been here. I went back to tell the Captain, but he was gone too.  
Marina fell back on the chair of Zero.  
_What the hell is going on?_  
- What have you discovered, Eluder?  
- That, it seems, Mr. Yattaran and Maji disappeared here and not on Earth. The Deputy Sheriff Carson has even shown us the evidences: Galaxy Express tickets purchased under a false name and forged travel documents.  
- They went missing in Gun Frontier?  
- Exactly. Carson is sure he saw Yattaran getting off the train and leaving with a person wrapped in a black cloak. From then on he disappeared without a trace. As for Maji, there are both a passport and tickets.  
_So, Harlock is lurking here on Heavy Meldar?_  
If it was true, Mayu Oyama was in serious danger. And maybe they were the next target.  
She tried to control the tremor she felt in her hands and to appear calm and resolute as Zero ever did I such occasions. She was the officer in command, and could neither afford a panic attack nor let fear or uncertainty spread it among the crew.  
_Assign tasks, keep everyone busy..._  
- Come back to the Saloon, Eluder. Ask for informations. Maybe someone in the room saw what happened or noticed something that might be useful. Ask also about Ishikura and Grenadier: they can't be vanished into thin air. Wait for me there. I'll reach you soon.  
- Yes, Sir - Eluder put his hand to his forehead and hung up.  
- I'm ready, First Officer - Rai was already hooking up his jacket.  
- Wait a minute! - Breaker arrested them with an alarmed tone - I receive the emergency signal both form the Captain and Ishikura!  
- What?!  
_How can they both have found Harlock? And Zero is alone! _  
She tried to overcome the apprehension, straightened up and hoped that she made the right decision. - Gentlemen, follow me all.  
Rai, Kaibara and Nohara threw her a puzzled look when she took the path leading to the cabins instead of the elevator that would have taken them to the hangar.  
As for Breaker, he was even more expressionless than Eluder and kept his opinions to himself.  
- What you'll see and hear in here is confidential, remember - Marina shot them a stern glare and opened the door of the Captain's cabin.  
They entered and a chorus of muffled exclamations greeted the scene that came before them.  
Daiba was on his feet and looked wide awake, now. He held one hand on the shoulder of Yuki Key who, from a chair, looked at her with bloodshot eyes. Marina wondered if she had cried.  
She thought that what she was about to say would have worried her even more, but she had no time to sweeten the pill or wait for her to calm down: she and her men had to run to help their companions. She took courage, took a deep breath and looked them straight into their eyes.  
- Sir, Madam, there are problems. Apparently, both of our groups have met Harlock. Neither the Captain nor Ishikura respond to calls... they could be in trouble. Indeed, they are for sure.  
Daiba stiffened, Yuki looked dismayed. Marina turned to her companions.  
- Rai, Nohara, Breaker, Kaibara... we have another problem: on board there was also Miss Oyama, who apparently disappeared.  
- Her too? - Rai was shocked to say the least - But...  
- We have no time for explanations, Rai - cut short Marina – We must look for her and go to the rescue of our comrades! Kaibara, I entrust you the command and the search of Miss Oyama aboard. Breaker, help him. Discreetly, I recommend it.  
- Right - Kaibara snapped to attention and ran out, followed by the Chief Radar Operator.  
- Nohara, to you the search on the ground. Rai, you go to Ishikura. I'm going to help the Captain. Sir, Madam, if you need something, please contact Dr. Machine.  
- One moment, First Officer Oki - Daiba stopped her with a gesture just as she was about to leave – Do you really think you can keep up with Harlock in so few and separated from each other?  
Marina frowned: it would have been hard and she knew it, but they were the only remaining Operational Officers on Karyu: the rest of the crew was composed mainly of technicians, utility men or space fighter pilots... and to involve other people would also have meant to reveal them who they had on board, in a place where nothing remained secret for too long.  
_No, too risky..._  
- There is no other choice.  
- There is - Daiba went to his cot and grabbed his belt - We'll come too.  
- It's too dangerous, Tadashi - protested Dr. Zero while Daiba closed the buckle - Your conditions...  
- It doesn't matter!  
- But... - Marina was indecisive too.  
- No time, remember? - Daiba glanced at Yuki, who rose and disappeared into the other room.  
She returned immediately, her Cosmo Gun tied to her waist and a bundle of clothes under her arm.  
- He's right. We'll change on the road... and hope that no one recognizes us.  
Daiba gave her a thin-lipped smile and grabbed her hand.  
- Hurry.  
They reached the Bullet racing, with Yuki and Tadashi covering their face as best they could with their jackets uniforms.  
It seemed that, despite concerns, they hadn't lost all their prudence and lucidity.  
What they were doing was without doubts an hazard: they could be recognized or even killed, but they were right... their collaboration could make the difference between life and death for her comrades.  
They arrived to Gun Frontier Saloon in less than ten minutes, but to Marina it seemed an eternity.  
Eluder was waiting at the door. He ran to meet them as soon as the vehicles stopped.  
- I have news, First Officer! The bartender says that the Captain exited from the back-door with a friend who had offered him a drink, a scarred guy with only one eye. Apparently, he followed him on his own free will.  
_Harlock! So it's true... _  
Marina had feared it. For a moment, she thought only that the man she loved was in danger and perhaps she would never see him again.  
Then, she felt anger: for sure, Zero had left to deal with Harlock even, man to man, and had activated the signaller only at the last moment.  
She would never understand his way of doing: sometimes it seemed that, to him, honour came first of all, before duty, before his own safety... and before her.  
_Why are you so naive, Zero? _  
If he had been before her in that moment, he would have slapped him.  
I have no time to cry, I do not have time to get angry ... I have to hurry!  
- Well, Eluder. We know the position of Captain: It is not far from here.  
- I also news about Ishikura. A guy is sitting this afternoon here at the Saloon claims he saw two men matching the description of his and Grenadier out of town in a gallop, but I do not know if I trust: he said that there was another person with them .  
- Another person? - Daiba stepped forward, a feverish light in his eyes clear.  
- Yes - Eluder eyed him carefully but did not change - A boy with an officer's uniform and wearing a hat.  
Marina moaned.  
- So it is with Mayu Ishikura and Grenadier?  
But what jumped at the head of those two fools?! Bring along a girl!  
- This makes things easier - the tone of Nohara seemed relieved, in sharp contrast to the tension that radiated from them all - We can divide into two teams of three items each.  
- Well, gentlemen - Marina nodded - Eluder, Nohara, with me! Mr. Rai, the three of you go to the aid of Ishikura, Grenadier and Mayu. Aggiorniamoci soon.  
Boarded the Bullet and, while beside her Eluder put in motion, he turned and cast a last glance to the other half. A dense cloud of dust penetrated into the nostrils and eyes as it marched. When the tears and the coughing subsided, the vehicle was nothing more than a faint speck flickering in the air as he walked away the evening in the direction opposite to theirs. At that time, Navy hoped to herself that this was not the last image that would keep the Sugata Rai, Tadashi Daiba Kei and Yuki.  
- Good luck ... - Murmured, aware that now they could no longer hear it.  
Then, Eluder swerved and the red rocks of the canyon entirely hid them from view.  
He put his hand on his holster and thought of Zero ... and Harlock.  
Please let 'it's not too late ...

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
__All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	15. Captors and captured

The big black raptor flew off with a high squeal.  
Mayu watched it circling above their heads and then soundlessly land on an old chair's back.  
There was a bandana tied to its hooked beak and the memory caught her suddenly: Harlock silencing that same bird perched on his shoulder with a single, expert tug at one of the cloth's ends.  
- Tori-San!  
The bird returned her gaze, tilted its head back and hovered in the air.  
It landed near her, croaked a few times then rubbed its head on her shoulder with a satisfied warble.  
- Look - Maji pointed them out - Tori recognizes her... maybe she's really our Mayu!  
- Could I ask what the hell are you talking about?! Why shouldn't Miss Oyama be herself? - Ishikura tried to stand and almost fell on Mayu's lap when Sylviana tripped him down - We are soldiers on a mission on behalf of the Earth Federal Government, I hope you realize ...  
- The only thing I realize and care about is that I have to protect my clients - cut short the bounty hunter - And a couple of nosy soldiers going around and asking questions about Harlock and his crew aren't a danger to be underestimated, especially if they take a Mayu Oyama look-alike along with them.  
- What does this story mean? - Mayu could not believe her ears - Why would anyone try to pose as me? Yattaran, Maji... please, tell me!  
Maji scratched his chin.  
- She sounds honest to me.  
- Maybe - Yattaran looked at her thoughtfully, then gave the exact same look at a scale model of the Yamato placed on a box - But it could be a trap as well. Do you remember what happened with Doskoi?  
Maji frowned and lowered his head, his eyes watery.  
Mayu never met Doskoi, but once Yuki told her something about him: he had been a member of Arcadia's crew before she was even born and had left shortly after her father's death to settle somewhere on Earth. He was a mechanic, if she wasn't wrong.  
She wondered what so terrible had happened to him to make the atmosphere so dark, but even if she asked they wouldn't have said a word... not as long as they kept on regarding her as an impostor sent among them for who knows what reason.  
- It's me, I swear! And I'll do anything to prove it!  
- Really? Well, then I've got a feeling that it's up to you, boss! - Sylviana winked at the figure in black, who walked in silence towards the prisoners.  
As soon as he moved the first step, Mayu was sure that whoever was hiding under that cloak, it wasn't Harlock.  
That person walked slowly, without a sound, almost slipping on the rocks; Harlock, instead, had a measured, resolute and manly pace.  
Although she didn't hear it for a long time, the sound of his footsteps was impressed so deeply into her memory that she was certain she could recognize it among a thousand; it always had been the first thing of him to reach her and the last to leave.  
When that person bent on her, a faint orchid smell reached her nostrils; Harlock didn't use perfumes, but the fresh smell of his shaving soap on his cheek every time he embraced her or she kissed him was one of her fondest memories.  
The hands of that person, sheathed in thin leather gloves, were small and tapering; Harlock's were big and strong, covered with calluses at the base of each finger. For her, they had made gestures of infinite tenderness, built an ocarina and played sweet melodies, they had clenched into fists, brandished weapons... and soiled themselves with blood, so many times.  
No, that person was not Harlock, could not be him.  
Mixed feelings seized her heart to that realization: sadness at not finding him, worry, but also relief.  
_I'm afraid_, she realized, _afraid of what I might find if I met him, afraid he's really gone mad as Ishikura said, afraid that the Harlock of my memories is changed forever... _  
Yet, she knew she had to deal with it, sooner or later. And she _wanted_ to deal with it.  
- Hey, what the hell are you doing?! - the alarmed cry of Ishikura made Tori-San flee and took her away from her thoughts.  
The black figure took away his right glove and his hand, thin as she had imagined it and white, lifted her chin and landed on her forehead.  
It was fresh, so soft... no, it was not the hand of Harlock.  
The face hidden by the hood's shadow came near hers.  
Mayu kept her eyes peeled in an attempt to discern the stranger's features, but all she saw were two golden glows where the eyes had to be.  
It was a strange light of variable intensity, warm, relaxing ...  
She could not look away or move, yet she was not afraid: it was as if she was watching the scene from the outside, as if it was not happening to her.  
_I'm hypnotized?_  
The muscles of her shoulders relaxed, the feeling of the handcuffs on her wrists and the tingling in the legs disappeared slowly, the sounds became muffled... and her thoughts, memories and emotions were no longer only hers.  
No, it was not hypnosis, it was something different, like having someone else in her mind, a quiet presence whose thoughts she could not penetrate but which gave off a slight melancholy... and yes, that reminded her of Harlock.  
Then, it was over. The figure in the black cloak interrupted the mental contact and removed the hand from her forehead. Perceptions, sounds, images and smells came back little by little: the tingling in her legs and the feel of metal handcuffs on her wrists, the voice of Ishikura calling her, the musky smell of the rocks, the sweetish one of the wood and the metallic one of weapons, the humid atmosphere of the cave...  
Mayu could not tell how long it lasted, few moments or hours.  
Without a word, the black figure stood up and went behind her.  
Shortly before he disappeared from her visual field, Mayu saw something slip into his white little hand with a metallic sheen.  
_A dagger?_  
She glanced around her: Sylviana was right in front of her casually swinging one of her guns; a little farther on, sitting on a crate, Yattaran was arranging a cannon of the Yamato model; next to her, on the left, Maji was busy holding down Ishikura, which continued to scream and squirm while on the right Grenadier was still motionless, his eyes closed and his breath regular.  
Mayu pondered the idea of getting up abruptly, knock the stranger down with a head-butt in the stomach and try to escape, but immediately discarded it: she would have been a perfect target for Sylviana and, plus, she was handcuffed with her hands behind the back and disarmed.  
Moreover, even supposing that she could manage to run away without getting hung up by Sylviana, Yattaran or Maji, she had not the faintest idea how to get out of the cave or where Gun Frontier was, since she made all the trip bandaged.  
_Damn it!_  
She didn't want to die there... not before she had found Harlock and discovered the reason why all the people with whom she had been friend disappeared or acted as if they were mad, just as in her worst nightmares as a child.  
She closed her eyes and wished with all her heart and soul that the events of the last two months were really only a bad dream; all she wanted was to wake up in her bed, get in the studio downstairs where she would have found Yuki and Tadashi still at work, laugh with them at her absurd fears over a glass of milk before going back to bed and, above all, wake up the next day in a world where Harlock was still a hero and not a threat to her and her loved ones.  
She opened her eyes. She was still in that damn cave.  
She thought about what Tadashi had said just few hours before and tears clouded her vision.  
Maybe she had to listen to him and remain on board the Karyu.  
She felt a sudden movement beside her and then a sharp cry broke the silence.  
Something fell to the ground with a metallic clink but she didn't care: she raised her head and the image before her eyes left her speechless.  
Grenadier was standing, hands free and a grin on his grim shaggy face.  
He tug upward the right hand of the figure in black and twisted his left arm behind his back. He was using his body as a shield.  
- What? - Yattaran put the model down and goggled his eyes behind his thick lenses - What the...?  
- You can do wonders with a hairpin bent in the right manner - laughed Grenadier - Especially with these children's toys. You should switch to handcuffs with electronic combination, my dear Sylviana.  
She pointed her gun. He twisted his hostage's wrist until he let out a groan.  
- Try it and your dear Boss will come to a sticky end.  
Sylviana ran her tongue over her lips.  
- I can easily hit you, Grenadier. All I have to do is just aim at your ugly mug.  
Grenadier laughed, yanked down the right arm of the figure in black and secured it behind his back.  
- Maybe you could even bump me off, Sylviana - the huge right hand of the former mercenary grabbed his hostage's chin and lifted it up - But I'd still have all the time to break his neck.  
Mayu had no doubt about it, even if he was holding them with just one hand, the arms of the figure in black were not strong enough to break free from the grip of those muscles of steel.  
Sylviana put her finger on the trigger.  
Grenadier tightened the grip on his hostage's chin and held it up even more.  
- I'll do it, Sylviana, and you know.  
A few seconds passed, then the bounty hunter sheathed her weapon and raised her hands.  
- Good girl. A wise decision - Grenadier nodded - Now loose your belts and no messing around: if I see that buckle flashing, if someone else comes in here or you just make a false move, the Boss is gone.  
- So you were awake when we got caught! - Ishikura shook off Maji, stood and shot Grenadier a dirty look.  
- You bet - Grenadier chuckled - You were red as a beet while watching Sylviana's legs, you know, Ishikura?  
- Stupid brute, why didn't you lend us a hand?!  
- Just to risk being killed or kill these three without finding out anything? No, thank you. Much better have them bring us to their base and wait for the right time to act, don't you think?  
- You have put Miss Oyama's life at risk, you senseless idiot!  
- Listen who's talking! At least I didn't make her save my sorry ass just to be ripped off like a fool!  
Mayu decided to cut in before those two began to fight seriously and their opponents had time to plan a counter-move.  
- What are we doing, now?  
- Easy - Grenadier blinked - Now our friends will line up in front of me, drop all their weapons and take away your handcuffs, then we'll all sit here, wait quietly and have a chat in a civil manner.  
- Wait for what? - Ishikura lifted his eyes - Manna from heaven? The Seventh Cavalry? We are lost in the middle of nowhere, in case you forgot, and these guys certainly have mates!  
- One step at a time - Grenadier nodded to Sylviana, who undid her belts, took a set of keys and released Mayu and Ishikura from the handcuffs.  
Maji and Yattaran dropped their Cosmo Guns and sat at a safe distance, legs crossed and hands behind their head.  
Mayu didn't wait for instructions: she handed a gun to Ishikura and one to Grenadier, who pointed it at the head of his hostage and gave a wry smile to his Lieutenant.  
- Now look a bit in my pants' back pocket, pain in the neck.  
Ishikura approached him and complied with a snort. He pulled out a military watch.  
Beside the dial, a LED broke the gloom of the mine with rhythmic blue flashes.  
- My signaller? - Ishikura turned white - And the emergency signal is on!  
Grenadier nodded proudly.  
- While you were busy contemplating of our beautiful Sylviana's charms, I took it from your wrist and, just when dear Harlock turned up, I sent the signal. Reinforcements should already be on the way by now, so stop whining. Mission accomplished... and without damages or casualties, just as Zero wanted.  
- Yeah... he will be so happy, really - Ishikura threw up his hands in despair - Maybe he'll kill us without too much sufferings.  
- That's not Harlock.  
Mayu picked up the metal object the figure in black had dropped when captured by Grenadier. It was not a dagger as he had thought, but a metal cylinder with a LED on the top, a display and a button on the final end.  
- What is this, in your opinion? - she handed the device to Ishikura, whose expression became more and more puzzled while turning it over in his hands.  
- If this one here is not Harlock, who the hell could it be? - Grenadier beckoned to his prisoner with his chin.  
- Mayu went to retrieve his Dragoon resting on a crate next to Yattaran's model and then strode toward the figure in black.  
- I have an idea.  
She had been a fool not to realize it earlier: that melancholy, that golden light, that white skin and above all that harp...  
She pulled down the hood with a sharp tug.  
Long blue night hair fell on an even more milky face than the hand which had been placed on her forehead and two golden irises gazed at her as if they could read into her soul.  
- Mime.  
- Sylviana! Close your eyes!  
The shout was so sudden that Mayu had just the time to jump back and shield her face with her arm. Even so, the glow shining out from Mime's face was so intense to blind her for a moment.  
When the light dimmed, Grenadier and Ishikura were groping, dazzled, Mime was free and Sylviana was already pointing her guns to her.  
She barely managed to take cover behind a metal crate.  
She leaned forward to see where here opponents were: Sylviana had sheltered behind a stalagmite, while Mime was a few steps from the cave entrance, behind a large rock. She couldn't see neither Maji nor Yattaran.  
Had she been them, she would have tried to encircle the enemy...  
She gritted her teeth; sure thing, it was just what they were trying to do at that same moment.  
The situation was desperate: alone against four opponents, two companions neutralized... and it was only a matter of time before Sylviana or anyone else get the idea to use them as hostages.  
_And what will I do, then?_  
How could she resist? The reinforcements would have arrived in time? They would have arrived at all?  
Sylviana leaned from her refuge.  
- Drop that gun, girl! If you are who you claim, you have nothing to fear!  
- Yes, Mayu, please, trust us - Mime lifted the metal cylinder - It's just a detector, not a weapon! I have to use it on you and your companions, but it's just a precaution. We are looking for Harlock too!  
_Another trick? Or can I trust them? _  
Her heart was beating so hard to take her breath away; not knowing what to do and who to trust was an agony... and it had taken so little time to break all of her confidences on that subject...  
- Why have you captured us that way, then? And what is that story of my look-alike?  
- I'll explain everything...  
- Yes, you can say it. After you calm down. All of you.  
Mayu leaned back.  
Tadashi was standing behind Mime, his gun on her back.  
A little farther on, Yuki had disarmed Sylviana while a man she didn't know covered Ishikura and Grenadier, who seemed to have recovered somewhat.  
She emerged from her hiding place and so did Maji and Yattaran.  
She hadn't been wrong: judging from their positions, they were really trying to surround her as Mime and Sylviana were distracting her.  
She ran to Tadashi.  
- Are you okay?  
Mayu nodded and felt a tremendous relief when she saw his frown relax. She turned at the sound of Yuki's steps and knew immediately that she wouldn't have gone off so cheap with her: her face was thunderstorm, to say the least.  
She marched straight up to her, slapped her across the face so strongly that she nearly span around and then clasped her in her arms.  
- You senseless daredevil! What were you thinking?  
Her voice broke and Mayu buried her face in her breast.  
She was shaking, or maybe it was her... she didn't care.  
She hugged her and began sobbing uncontrollably.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
__All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	16. Nemesis

Zero smothered the flames that the laser beam had started to the bottom of his jacket and thanked between himself his old Drill Sergeant for having caused him the conditioned reflex to throw himself sideways and take cover at the slightest hint of danger: hadn't he done so, at that time he would have been on the ground with a hole in his chest as big as his fist and many others throughout the rest of his body, at least judging from the burst of shots which had followed the first.  
He flattened himself against the rock behind which he had taken shelter, sheathed the Gravity Sabre and took a deep breath. He looked at his right hand: a deep cut crossed the palm from side to side and even the upper phalanges didn't come out unscathed by the encounter with the blade of Harlock.  
He tried to flex his fingers and had to bite his lip to keep himself from screaming.  
A red stream which seemed unwilling to stop kept flowing along his wrist.  
No way, the hand was out: too much blood that would have made the gun's grip clammy, too much pain that would have prevented him to hold it firmly in his hands and shoot accurately.  
He was in a big trouble, but had no intention to give up... not now that he finally had found Harlock.  
He drew the gun and took it up with the left.  
He hoped to be still good enough to hit a distant target hidden in the dark shooting with only one hand and leaned forward just enough to control the situation.  
From the point from which he supposed the burst of shots had come no sign of life, but he had expected it: surely the enemy was changing position to bypass the rocks and try again.  
What he did not expect, however, was to see Harlock still standing in the same spot as before, entirely into the open.  
_Is he crazy?_  
He made as if to call him, then he realized that no one was shooting at him and a terrible doubt hit him like a punch in the stomach... a very well-aimed punch.  
_An ambush?_  
Sure thing, the location was ideal: a small clearing enclosed by steep rocks, with several high points from which to observe the opponent's moves or attack him from a protected position, not to mention the possible hidden access routes and escapes he didn't know...  
- Get out of there, Zero - Harlock limped toward him – Don't make it even more painful!  
His heart missed a beat.  
_So it's true... I've been lured into a trap! _  
He thought back to fourteen years before, when in that same place he had risked his life to stop and prevent his men from capturing him by deception... or die in the attempt.  
He thought to the punch he had given Ishikura, to the words he had said and to the ideals of friendship, loyalty and honour that Harlock and Tochiro embodied so well at that time and the admiration they kindled in him.  
He felt stupid. Stupid and angry.  
Stupid, because the idea of an ambush had not even crossed his mind, because he still couldn't believe it despite the evidence and because, no matter what, a part of him still refused to accept that Harlock was no more the same man he had known.  
Angry, with himself for his stupidity and with Harlock for stooping so low.  
- I didn't think you would have played dirty, Harlock!  
- As I said, do what I have to. By my hand or someone else's, you must die, Zero... who cares who is going to deal the final blow? Come on, give it up and let's get it over with.  
- You're right, let's get it over with!  
Zero shot him.  
The first shot grazed Harlock's left shoulder, the second and the third opened new holes in his cloak.  
The fourth, the fifth and the sixth whipped the air and hit the rocks, but he was on the ground: the injured knee had given way. Zero closed one eye, framed in the viewfinder the hand of Harlock which was running to the holster and moved his finger to pull the trigger, but couldn't fire.  
A flash, an intense heat, a strong shock to the hand and his gun fell to the ground, hit by a laser striker ray.  
To all appearances, Harlock's accomplice was better than he had imagined: he had circumvented him without making the slightest noise and, judging by the damage to his weapon and the accuracy of the shot, in those few seconds should have come very close to him.  
Before he could even think to react, the still warm barrel of a weapon was placed between his shoulder blades, an unmistakable feeling that confirmed his assumptions.  
- You should have stayed out of it, Zero - a female voice - Maybe you could have lived a little longer with your beautiful Miraiserian.  
- Who are you? How do you know about me and Marina?  
The striker's barrel slid down to his loins and a shiver ran down his spine.  
- What! Don't you remember me? How disappointing... if I had a heart, it would break.  
Harlock approached him, gun in hand.  
He lifted it and pointed it to his forehead.  
Zero stared at him: in his eye not a flicker of hesitation, sadness or mercy.  
He would have pulled the trigger. He would have killed an unarmed man... a man who had fought at his side, with whom he had got plastered... a man he once had called "my friend."  
- Look at you, Harlock: you're no longer yourself!  
- I am who I am, Zero - he cocked - Goodbye.  
- No. I want to do it myself.  
Harlock lowered his weapon and the woman faced him.  
Zero's eyes widened: it was the last person he would have ever expected to see at Harlock's side, not counting he had believed her dead for fourteen years, since the explosion of the Hell Castle.  
It was not possible, but that pale face, those blue eyes as cold as steel, that ethereal figure and that long blond hair could only belong to her.  
- Hel Matear?  
- Oh, it seems that you remember me, after all - she put her hand to her chest - I am moved.  
- What does this mean? Why...  
- You also dare to ask? - her eyes sent flashes under her knit eyebrows, her thin lips took a hard line - For La Methal, for Andromeda, for the Queen Prometheum, for _my sister_! I will not resign myself until all those responsible for the extermination of my people will not end up in hell after losing everything, just like me!  
She draw the striker's barrel to his chest.  
The light of Heavy Meldar's moons lit with disturbing reflections her joyless smile.  
- Now I'll be the one breaking your heart, Zero. To tell the truth, I'm sorry you are the first of my list... there are people I hate much more than you.  
- Harlock, what does this mean?!  
The situation was more and more absurd. During the war, Harlock had been one of the most fierce enemies of Ra Andromeda Prometheum and the Mechanized Men: with Tetsuro Hoshino and Maetel, he should have been the main target of Matear's hatred and thirst for vengeance.  
He didn't answer. He closed his eye and lowered his weapon.  
Matear put her finger on the trigger.  
_Now or never!_  
Zero grabbed her hand and spun until he was outside the weapon's reach.  
She fired a shot which got lost among the rocks.  
He gritted his teeth to endure the pain when he used his right hand to compress her wrist and forced her to bend it with his left.  
Matear grunted, tried to resist.  
She was strong, like all Mechanized Men: much stronger than any woman and maybe even than a lot of men, but he was desperate, furious, ready for anything... and fortunately, even though mechanized, her body had the same structure as the human one, the same reactions.  
The gun fell to the ground with a thud that echoed among the rocks like a cannon shot, or so it seemed to his senses heightened by the danger.  
Before he could immobilize her, Matear grabbed him by the collar, lowered herself and dropped him down with an ankle sweep.  
The impact with the ground left him breathless and the heel stamp she landed on his wounded hand forced a cry of pain out of him.  
- Nice try, Zero. I see you haven't lost your stubbornness.  
She picked up her striker as Harlock held him at gunpoint.  
- Explain at least what Daiba, Kei and Elpis settlers had to do with a war of fourteen years ago...  
Matear laughed.  
- I couldn't care less about them. But I'm not the only one seeking justice. And now farewell, Zero: we already chatted too much for my liking!  
Zero closed his eyes. This time it was really the end.  
He wondered what would have become of his men, of Yuki, Tadashi and Mayu... and of Marina.  
They had found in each other their reason to be and now, because of his foolish pride, she would have lost everything again. He hoped she now was strong enough to bear it and didn't try to join him in the void of death she yet once had sought to escape loneliness... then he heard a gunshot.  
He opened his eyes.  
Harlock and Matear were looking towards the narrow gorge giving access to the valley and he took the opportunity to roll away and draw the Gravity Sabre.  
Against a gun and striker it was an almost entirely useless weapon, heavy, below both for manoeuvrability and fire-power, but it was all he had.  
- Drop your weapons, all three!  
He had expected to hear Ishikura or Grenadier's voice, but he was surprised to see that his saviour was the annoying Deputy Sheriff Carson.  
He shouldered a pulse rifle and was flanked by at least five other men.  
- Don't play games with me, you are surrounded!  
- Captain! You okay?  
Zero looked around. On the top of a rock he saw Eluder and a little farther on Marina and Nohara.  
Harlock and Matear raised their hands.  
- The same goes for you, Captain Zero! - Carson approached and spat – Stand up and put your hands behind the head. It doesn't matter if I am making use of the voluntary collaboration of your men, duelling here after sunset is forbidden.  
Zero dropped his Gravity Saber and stood up.  
When he saw the Deputy Sheriff take out the handcuffs, he wondered if he was about to arrest and put all of them in a tiny cell in his office as in old western movies, but he didn't care too much: Harlock and Matear couldn't do any more harm... and soon they would have had to give him several explanations.  
Suddenly, the already dim light of the moon darkened and one of the sheriff's men fell to the ground, followed by another and another.  
A burst of blows struck between the cliffs and down the gorge.  
Carson screamed and fell to the ground, his leg bleeding under the fabric of his burnt trousers.  
Zero dragged him behind a rock and looked up. A spaceship.  
_The Arcadia?_  
No. It had the same lines and at least at first glance it seemed equipped with the same weapons, but it was bigger, black as night and, instead of the Space Pirates Jolly Roger, the image of a winged woman, crowned and armed with a sword, made the best of itself on its sides.  
- The Nemesis! - Matear's voice rose over the noise of the rocks shattering into pieces around him.  
- Hurry! - Harlock picked up the striker, hit another of Carson's men and dragged Matear away.  
Zero looked around for a weapon: he had to stop at least Harlock at any cost. Carson held out his revolver.  
- For now I give up arresting you, Zero - he unbuckled his belt and tightened it above the wound with a groan of pain - Let's do those two bastards in!  
- I have to catch them alive, Carson.  
- It will mean I'll hang them after you have done as you like. Can you make it with this hand?  
Zero nodded.  
- At my signal, cover me.  
- I'll do more - Carson pulled out a walkie-talkie - Hey, you guys up there, you hear me? Your Captain and me are about to try and catch those bastards before they take off: as soon as their covering fire will cease to allow them to escape and he'll start to run, try to slow them down and send someone down the gallery to take them from behind... and see that it's the fastest among you pansy federals! Oh, and in case you hadn't thought about it yet, call your buddies with their ship!  
He threw down the transmitter and shouldered the rifle.  
Zero took off his jacket and leaned down, ready to sprint.  
The covering fire ceased and he leaned.  
A small space fighter came out of the tailgate of the Nemesis and prepared to descend into the gorge, certainly to rescue Harlock and Matear. Carson assumed a firing stance.  
- Good luck.  
- To you too, Mr. Carson... Fire!  
Zero ran as fast as he could, zigzagging to avoid Harlock's shots and the shards of rock raining down on him and bouncing everywhere.  
He was close to the goal when a cloud of dust and a blast of hot wind invested him: the fighter was already in position a few meters from the ground and ready to go.  
The pilot had to be amazingly skilled and have got some nerve: the smallest error of assessment, a slight tremor of the hand or the minimum hesitation in the manoeuvre could damage the vehicle and kill him.  
Zero stepped forward, his eyes burning with tears and his vision blurred.  
He saw Harlock turn to return the fire of the man Carson had required to encircle him and Matear.  
_You are mine!_  
He aimed at his legs, but was forced to throw himself on the ground without firing a single shot when the pilot opened the dome and, without leaving the cloche, fired in turn.  
Zero looked up and saw him in the face just as Harlock and Matear came up behind him, bent to avoid the blows that streamed down upon them from the rocks.  
He emptied the drum, but his hand was shaking so much that none of his bullets found its mark, even though the target was close.  
The crew member who had come to his aid reached the fighter's cabin a few moments after Harlock, leaped and managed to grab the pilot's weaponed arm.  
He tried to drag him to the ground, but Harlock hit him in the head with the butt of the striker and he let go. He fell a few steps from Zero but got up almost immediately.  
He fired again a couple of shots, but they didn't even make a scratch on the now closed wind-shield.  
The fighter took off and disappeared through the Nemesis door in a moment.  
Just as quickly, the huge ship was out of sight over the rocks surrounding the Death Valley.  
- Zero! - Marina leaned over his side, the gun still in her hand and the red sign of a hit on the forehead. She had been the one who had descended in the valley and had made that reckless deed.  
He should have known it.  
He looked into her eyes as she grabbed his hand and slipped off the scarf from her neck, and there he saw the same shocked expression he probably had right then on his face.  
- Have you seen her? The pilot...  
She nodded grimly.  
- So it was not a hallucination... that was...  
The voice failed him. Long red hair, blue eyes and that unmistakable scar across her face. To see her had been a hard blow, almost as much as fighting with Harlock.  
- Emeraldas ...  
- No - Marina tied her scarf to his hand and shook her head - That was an inhabitant of my planet.  
She lifted her uniform's sleeve. Her arm had become transparent and the organic liquid it contained was still seething.

_* Nemesis is the personification of divine justice in Greek mythology; over time, her role as a dispenser of good or bad luck depending on the merits or demerits of each was put aside in favour of her "punitive" aspect, making her the goddess of vengeance.  
I thought it was a good name for the ship of Hell Matear & Comrades, looking for that kind of "justice". _

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
__All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	17. The Herakles Project Part I

- So, our task is to hunt down Harlock again?  
- Yes, Mr. Ishikura, exactly.  
Zero stared at his Lieutenant. All the years spent wandering through the cosmos on board of the Karyu and the many experiences in war and peace had somewhat softened his stubborn character but, still, he hadn't lost the habit of discussing orders and decisions, or worse, to ignore them and do it his own way when instinct said him so. Whenever Karyu's officers gathered and someone made a proposal, all eyes moved on him at once, waiting for some kind of dispute. He was "a first class pain in the neck", as Grenadier stated in more than one occasion, however, his objections had more than once proved to be reasonable or even useful.  
- But... Captain! We all agreed that...  
- Calm down, Ishikura - Kaibara grabbed a bottle of water from the table, ignored the glass in front of him and took a sip - I am sure that there is a valid reason if the Captain accepted this mission. Can you explain it, Sir?  
- Unfortunately not.  
Yuki had been very clear about it: no information on what she and Tadashi had revealed and on their agreements had to be divulged before take-off, and even thereafter the strictest confidence would have been necessary.  
When Dr. Zero had contacted him the night before to brief him on the latest events and explain the new plan, Zero understood why and had to admit that, in fact, the fewer people knew their course of action, the lesser risks they would have run into.  
However, he couldn't relax: indeed, he felt a bit guilty.  
He had always discussed with his subordinates every aspect of missions, all kind of issues regarding their ship and had never made a decision without consulting them and without making sure that everyone agreed on the measures to take. He felt a hypocrite: he had always wanted that on his ship reigned a trusty atmosphere and had always repeated to everyone that, between brothers in arms, no one had anything to hide.  
- I understand - Kaibara laid on his back and pulled one of his thick grey moustache – There's more to this than meets the eye. Just like the last time.  
- I'd rather have a vague idea of what we're going to run into - the tone of Eluder was expressionless as his mechanized face - If nothing else, to be ready at the right time.  
- I'm sorry I accepted this mission without consulting you first - Zero stood up, bowed his head and closed his eyes - But I assure you I'll do everything so that none of you have to repent. I only ask you to trust me.  
For a while, not a single sound could be heard. Then someone got up, walked over and put his hand on his shoulder.  
- You don't need to apologize, Zero - the voice of Marina - I trust you.  
- Right! - Grenadier slammed his fist on the table, so strongly that most of the bottles and glasses tumbled – You are the Captain, Zero. As far as I am concerned, you decide where to go and what to do: I'll follow you hot on your wheel!  
- I didn't mean I don't trust you, Captain! - Ishikura stood up - You know that I would entrust my life to you in every moment!  
- Same here - Eluder made a vague gesture of apology - And in any case I am a Mechanoid: I have good recoil abilities, whatever should happen.  
- I'm with you, Captain - Rai intervened for the first time - And I think it applies to everyone.  
- Thank you.  
For a while, Zero could not speak. He feared that his voice would have trembled too much.  
Marina sat back down.  
- We have some starting point? Clues?  
- No, unfortunately. The Command has received many reports from people claiming to have spotted Harlock and the Arcadia, but I believe that all are baseless and the result of panic or mythomania.  
- To be precise, there are three million eight hundred thousand four hundred and nine of them - intervened the metallic voice of Battlizer - Uniformly distributed both in the solar system and in the extrasolar ones.  
- Which - quipped Breaker - Were they all true, would imply that Harlock is gifted with ubiquity and the Arcadia with a navigation device far better than the jump to hyperspace  
- Damn! - Grenadier folded his arms and huffed - I wonder what happens, to people, when things like this occur.  
- What do you propose, Captain?  
- The best place to get information on anything - Zero turned on the monitor and projected the map of Andromeda star system - Is the planet Heavy Meldar, now as when we first ventured in this task. I suggest starting from there.  
- We're going back to Gun Frontier? - Grenadier seemed excited, as opposed to Ishikura and Rai. Eluder did not flinch, but it was impossible to tell what he thought until he expressed it with words.  
Zero nodded.  
- If anyone has not better ideas or valid objections.  
- You heard, pain in the neck? We're going to see Sylviana!  
Ishikura blushed to the roots of the hair.  
- What? Are you teling me you want to address to that viper again? Are you out of your mind? Don't you remember how it ended, last time?  
- Come on, Ishikura - Grenadier crossed his legs on the table, rocked back and winked at the Lieutenant – Don't you tell me that, after all these years, you still hold a grudge for that matter! These things happens.  
- If being threatened to get lynched by an angry mob for nothing to you is a "thing that happens", I do not dare to think ...  
Zero cleared his throat.  
- Order, gentlemen. Remember that we are on duty – he shot a severe glance to Grenadier, who immediately regained his composure - If no one has any objection to the destination, there are a couple other measures I want to discuss. First, my cabin will be closed and the access to it forbidden to anyone except myself until take-off. Thereafter, entry will be allowed only to those I'll authorize. I will move with immediate effect in the cabin of the Lieutenant. Easy, Ishikura – he smiled - I won't throw you off: all I need is a cot.  
- No problem, Captain.  
He seemed puzzled, but he didn't object.  
- The second, perhaps the one you will like the least: all officers are to remain on board until departure. No contact with anyone outside the crew and maximum secrecy about our destination even with them. From 22.00 to 06.00 tomorrow, also, the whole crew will have to remain in their quarters, with the only exception of the Doctor, the personnel guarding the engine room and the hangar and myself.  
A groan greeted his words. He could understand them: after six years dreaming leaves once back on Earth, that was really a low blow.  
- I'm sorry, gentlemen, but it's necessary.  
- Farewell, my jag - sighed Rai resignedly.  
- What a fuss! - Grenadier had a cheerful smile – It'll mean that, to thank us, our Captain will offer us another round of Red Barbour on Heavy Meldar and another at the end of the mission!  
Zero was grateful for his words, so much that he decided to turn a blind eye to the fact he had again placed his feet on the table.  
- I will, but we must keep us sober. Are there any questions? Objections?  
No one spoke.  
- All right, gentlemen. Thanks for everything, you can go. First Officer Oki, convey our destination to Mr. Nohara and order him to set up the flight plan and calculate the route. Doctor, you remain.  
When all were gone, Zero breathed a sigh of relief. He had expected much worse.  
Doctor Machine approached him.  
- What do you need, Captain?  
Zero typed a quick command and a long list appeared on the holographic screen .  
- I need you to provide these drugs and equipment, but without ordering them to the Headquarters or any other governmental structure. Can you do it?  
- Some of these things we have already in supply - the Doctor looked through the list, his synthetic brow furrowed - For the rest, I could use some of my old acquaintances. But, Captain, no one on board has problems that justify their utilisation.  
- I know, Doctor.  
- Captain, if you know of something I don't, you'd better tell me. This equipment and therapy combined may only serve to someone risking serious heart complications. If anyone in the crew is in those conditions, I advise you not to let him remain on board: I can not guarantee his survival to the jump in hyperspace... maybe not even to take-off.  
For a moment, Zero froze. Then he closed his eyes and breathed deeply.  
Sure thing, Tadashi and Yuki had already charged that eventuality on their account.  
He admired their determination.  
- Don't worry, Doctor. This falls under my responsibilities.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	18. The Herakles Project Part II

For a while, no one spoke, then Yattaran let out a long nervous laugh.  
- You're indeed thick skinned, guys! Especially you, Tadashi...  
- I thought you were already dead! - Maji burst into tears - What a relief!  
Mime's face lit up and even Sylviana's frown seemed to relax.  
- Well, this shift our ground.  
- You can say that again! - popped in Yattaran - If they're with us, the possibilities to stop the lunatics behind all this increase a lot: especially because they have a ship... and what a ship! The glorious Flaming Dragon, no less!  
- What happened to the Arcadia?  
To that question, the light on Mime's face died.  
- The last time I saw it, it was anchored between the twin planets of Alpheratz star system. I don't know if it's still there.  
Sylviana stood up, stretched her arms and put her hands on her shapely hips.  
- Shorty and the Boss, here, associated with me because they were looking for a ship to chase after Harlock - she settled her dress - It was a lean year for everyone, so we made a pact: they and the lovely company they'd have reunited down here would have provided me a help in my work and left me a good percentage on bounties in change of protection, anonymity and, at the right time, my name on every act of buying and selling. But it seems that the fun is over... and as if that was not enough at my hand, damn it!  
Tadashi looked at Mime.  
- Why did you and the Captain part?  
- Not on my will - Mime sat, the hands clasped in her lap - It happened about four years ago. We were headed to the Earth for Mayu's birthday when we crossed a black ship identical to the Arcadia. We tried to contact the crew, but no one answered. He went out to see, stayed away for about two hours and then re-contacted me. He ordered me to land: he said that he would not return on board and didn't want me with him.  
Tadashi gasped.  
Harlock abandoning the woman who had dedicated his life to him and above all his ship, _his best friend_: it was the craziest thing he could ever imagine, just a little more absurd than a still universe, a boiling ice cube, dry water or a cold flame.  
He looked at Yuki and Mayu. By their expressions, he deduced they thought the same as him.  
- I tried to make him think about it, I asked him what he had found, if anything happened... I begged him... to no avail. He closed the connection and left.  
- And Tochiro did nothing? - Tadashi was more and more incredulous.  
- Lately he was... tired or, at least, so said Harlock. Every time he came back from the computer room, the Captain was getting more and more dark. I don't know what happened between them, what Tochiro had... The fact is that the Arcadia stood there. I tried to follow that ship with a Space Wolf, but it was useless. I was alone, far away from all the trade and military routes. At last, I landed in a pioneers outpost, but I was a strange alien and nobody wanted to give me work or trust. I had to learn to disguise my appearance and to live by my wits. It passed nearly two years before I could get back to civilization and contact someone.  
- In our case, me - Yattaran approached Mime - Elpis had just exploded, and you know better than anyone how I felt. There were rumours going around about Harlock's involvement, about my complicity and unlikely conspiracy theories according to which Tadashi and I had made money hand over fist from the death of those poor settlers... I wanted to run away from that and find the truth, so I prepared false documents to throw all off the scent and left to reach her here on Heavy Meldar. At that time we knew nothing of the Herakles Project, we just wanted to find the Captain, talk with him and prove his innocence to the world. We needed a ship and a crew, so we settled in one of the old Harlock's hideouts and I dealt with gathering a crew and informations. Then, six months ago, without anyone contacting him, Doskoi came.  
Again, the atmosphere grew tense. Yattaran sat down, wiped his glasses with the hem of his shirt and looked at them.  
- He was strange, taciturn. Mime said something about him being pat and Tori-san even tried to attack him when they were together in the same room. Well, they were both right: that night he tried to kill us all.  
Maji sobbed.  
- It was like in that damn video - he wiped away the tears with the back of his hand - Nothing stopped him, neither the words, nor the wounds! I had to shoot him in the head before he broke Mime's one with a mallet...  
- We found the chip through the remains of his brain - even Yattaran had tears in his eyes - I analysed it and finally could figure something out. Long story short, the damn thing emits high-frequency alpha waves which disable the amygdala, the part of the brain controlling feelings and emotional memory. If you have that chip in your head, all the information coming from the outside are equivalent, you don't have instincts or a concept of right or wrong... That is why Andromeda Prometheum's mechanized warriors were not afraid to die or had qualms in killing. For them, a living and a dead being were just the same: nothing more than a data. A human brain, however, is different from the binary code one of a mechanized man: without the filter of emotions and instincts, it can't handle all external stimuli, all the informations coming... and that is why Kurai's test cases, even those to whom he had not messed up the brain, ended up going crazy.  
- Doskoi was a clone? - Yuki's voice was barely a whisper.  
Yattaran spread his hands.  
- I can't be one hundred percent sure about him. As I said before, I didn't link the chips to the Herakles Project at once. I knew little about the characteristics of these devices, a long time had passed and Doskoi wasn't just totally mad like the man in that video of ten years ago; he acted lucidly: he had waited the night, wasn't coarse in movements and didn't hit at random. But those who came after...  
- You mean ...  
- Yes, there have been two other cases.  
- Who?  
- Kiddodo and Taro.  
Two silent tears went down on Yuki's face and Tadashi felt very sad when he pulled her close to comfort her.  
He hadn't known Doskoi, the Chief Engineer before Maji, but he remembered well Kiddodo and Taro, their endless hallway chess games which always ended up interrupted by an alarm or by someone stumbling on the chessboard, their lot of betting on mice races and their absurd jokes that, for some mysterious reason, spared only Yuki and the Captain while he was one of the favourite targets.  
They were two cheerful guys who helped to make the life on board less boring and, even though he hadn't hit it off very much with them because of the particular situation he was living at that time, their loss pained him.  
Yattaran took a sip of water.  
- After Doskoi's nasty business, I began suspecting there were great powers in play. Building the chip, implanting it in one of our former brothers in arms and track us down on this planet was not an undertaking within the reach of anyone. Moreover, and even worse, I realized that all those I had not contacted could be possible targets if our enemies had wanted to try again. At last I called Tetsuro on Earth and asked his help. He has been invaluable: he gave me information about the Hardgear chips and the Herakles Project, helped me to develop the detector and, even more important, found and secured all of our missing comrades he could find and their families.  
- I understand - Tadashi grabbed a glass, filled it and handed it to Yuki - The friends you didn't want to give away and whose lives depended on you were them.  
Mime nodded.  
- There are women, children and elderly people among them. Tetsuro, Tadashi Monono and Revy charged themselves with protecting them until the situation is resolved. Tetsuro is also trying to find out if someone on Earth is involved in all this.  
- Of course it is - Yattaran frowned - Only someone very high ranked over me, Yuki and Tadashi could have access to all the the project Elpis' specs and to the Ministry of Defence's neural track archive. Taro and Kiddodo were two clones, I'm absolutely sure about that. They had been missing for months, even Tetsuro with all his hooks and means couldn't find them... Then one day they come here on Heavy Meldar looking for us through Sylviana.  
- That time I was on the alert, though - the bounty hunter examined critically her long, pink painted nails - I packed them well, took them to the Boss and we controlled them with the detector: bingo. We were trying to work out a way to take away that things from their heads and trace their mandators when they began to scream and squirm like crazy... After about six hours of useless struggles to get free, they entered into a coma and died the next day.  
Yattaran nodded sadly and adjusted his glasses.  
- A few days after, Tetsuro contacted me telling that the corpses of the true Taro and Kiddodo had been found under a bridge in Megalopolis. They had been dead for more than a month, no error likely... but those clones had recognized us and remembered things that only Taro and Kiddodo could know, a sign that their memory had been transferred into them via neural paths, just as Kurai's project planned.  
Tadashi shivered.  
- It's possible that our enemies have a machine which can extract the neural path without resorting to the archive of the Defense?  
- I think not. That technology is top secret: they should have taken all the fifty mechanized technicians dealing each with a single aspect of the machine's maintenance, removed their memory chips, cracked it hoping to get the picture, have been able to reconstruct the whole mechanism and finally understand how it works without anyone noticing anything. Too difficult, expensive and risky if the alternative is to bribe a single person to have access to the existing one.  
- Who do you think is behind all of this?  
Yattaran scratched his head.  
- I don't know. Kurai should be an old man by now, if he's still alive. According to Tetsuro, he had no living relatives and his three assistants all committed suicide in prison. As for the leaker in the Government, I have no idea.  
- That's because you think like Boy Scouts, Shorty - Sylviana sat on the edge of the table, crossed her legs and pointed her finger to Ishikura - I would have expected it from the acting Toy Soldier here, not by you dreaded Space Pirates. However, as usual, all it takes is just find out who gain the more by the whole thing: Harlock again a gallows bird and untraceable, Mr. Big Gun out of the game and you people scattered throughout the cosmos chasing after your Captain or six feet under... Find out who gets the most out of it between your politicians and you'll have found your man!  
Ishikura adjusted his collar and looked her askance.  
- Maybe we think like Boy Scouts, but in the civilized world you can't go to someone and slaughter him just because you feel that he's "getting the most" out of it: there are things called "processes" and others called "evidences", without which you can't accuse anyone of anything, not even the worst among criminals, let alone a member of the Government!  
Sylviana didn't flinch. She gave him a bored look, stood up and approached him.  
- Just a waste of time, that's why I don't like the Earth - she ran a finger over her lower lip and put it on Ishikura's ones before he could argue - Anyway, I like Boy Scouts from Earth, Tin Toy Soldier... they're so cute!  
Grenadier whistled, Rai giggled and Ishikura blushed to the root of his hair. He stiffened and withdrew the bounty hunter's finger like it was burning.  
- I'd like to understand just one thing - Mayu's voice trembled - Harlock... what does he have to do with all this? Why he behave that way? Won't it be... Won't it be... that someone implanted him with the chip and he is... is...  
Tadashi knew what Mayu meant.  
_Crazy._ He couldn't say the word either.  
He had thought about it the moment Yattaran had mentioned Hardgear chips, but he couldn't, _wouldn't_ believe it: the personality, the noble soul and the pure heart of Harlock, his determination, his rude sweetness, his courage and his dreams... lost forever, replaced by an abyss of madness or a will that was not his. It hurt, too much.  
_No, that can't be!_  
_Yet..._  
He remembered his eyes just before he pulled the trigger.  
Empty, of hesitation, love, hate or pity... devoid of any feeling.  
Cold as the barrel of his gun, as the deadly chill that had wrapped him while he was lying on the floor, chocking in his own blood.  
_Cold, so cold..._  
The nausea came over him again, a lump closed his throat.  
Yuki bowed her head and let out a long, hoarse sigh.  
Mayu groaned, went closer to him and grabbed his hand.  
It was cold, too.  
Tadashi tried to fight back the tears threatening to cloud even his eyes; he couldn't allow himself to be weak, not now.  
Maybe later, when he got to bed, he could gave vent to his anxiety and frustration choking his sobs into the pillow, but now he had to brace up, for Yuki, for Mayu and also for Harlock, wherever he was and whatever had happened to him.  
- Be honest, please.  
- We can't be sure - after a few more moments of agonizing silence, Yattaran grabbed the detector - We didn't have a chance to examine him with this or put him in close contact with Mime. Of course, it would explain many of his recent actions... had he been himself, the Captain would never commit those infamies!  
- But it could also be a clone, or more than one, since it's at least a year that he behaves erratically - Maji scratched his beard - Unless they managed to adapt the chip to a not mechanized human brain or improve the clones so that they can stand so long... And if so, who knows what happened to him... perhaps the same of the poor and Taro Kiddodo...  
- I am certain not - Yuki's voice trembled - When we fought, he whispered my name before fleeing. There is no neural path of the Captain after his twenties, when he rebelled against the Earth's Government. Even if our enemies have access to the archives of the Ministry of Defense and can successfully execute a transfer, a clone implanted with that memory couldn't recognize me.  
- So it's really him? - Mayu looked around, her big eyes wide open.  
- Whatever it is, I won't give up! - Yattaran settled the crux of his bandana and puffed out his chest with a pugnacious air - Until we don't find him and we're sure there's nothing we can do, I won't give in!  
- Good, Shorty, that's the right mood! - Sylviana gave him a pat on the back and winked at Mayu – Take him as a model, little mite, never give up, or you'll never be a true woman!  
Tadashi was grateful to both of them for the faint smile they forced out of her.  
He realized how much he had missed the particular joy and courage of that very special weirdo; perhaps, with his help, they could really work out that intricate affair.  
- Can the chip be removed and its side effects reversed? - Yuki also seemed to have gained a little more courage. Now her voice was firm, her eyes dry.  
Yattaran shook his head.  
- I don't know. I'm not a doctor – his face clouded - And we never tried. We didn't have the time and none of us is a surgeon. It would take that old soaker Dr. Zero, but who knows what's become of him.  
Tadashi laughed.  
- If he has finished medicating _Captain_ Zero, he's surely in the cabin glued to a bottle.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
__All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	19. Reflections, advices and strategies

Zero observed his namesake Doctor fold the umpteenth gauze with forceps, pour some disinfectant on it and draw it up to the cut on the palm of his hand.  
He gritted his teeth and held his breath when the Doctor spread the edges of the wound and the throbbing pain which had just begun to dim got back to an intense burning at the contact of the antiseptic with his flesh.  
- Sorry, Captain, but we have to make sure that the wound does not become infected. It's damn deep and inside there were earth and rock fragments in quantity. I'm almost done.  
Zero gave him a resigned nod and looked to the bed next to the one he was sitting on.  
From over the shoulder of Dr. Machine, busy to treat the bruise on her forehead with a strange device he had never seen before, Marina gave him an eloquent look: no, there was no need to postpone the rest of the treatment to join the prisoner's interrogation; Ishikura, Tadashi and Yuki would have got by just fine even without him.  
The Doctor took out the gauze and dropped it into the waste bin, already full over and above the edge.  
The injury to the hand was more serious than he had thought: it had bled abundantly and the two Doctors had a lot of trouble trying to stop the haemorrhage.  
- That was rash, indeed - the Doctor allowed himself a long sip from the half empty bottle laying on the surgical instruments' table – To jump an expert fencer like Harlock and try to threaten him with his own blade... I didn't think you were so bold!  
Zero grimaced.  
- To tell the truth, I usually am not.  
- A few millimetres deeper and you would have had to say goodbye to your tendons, Captain: you would have had to become left-handed to continue fencing or have an artificial hand implanted. Not to mention what could have happened if the blade cut the palmar arch!  
Zero stiffened.  
- But you came through it - the Doctor smiled at him and lifted the bottle - Let's toast to your luck!  
He drank another generous sip of sake, took another bottle from the table and devoted himself in disinfecting the skin around the wound.  
Zero gritted his teeth again: if possible, that damn disinfectant burned more than the one he had used before. He couldn't hold a moan of pain.  
- Ah, alcohol - laughed the Doctor - The panacea for all ills, both for external and oral use! Would you like a sip of sake, Captain? It anaesthetizes better than anything else.  
Zero shook his head.  
- I'm on duty.  
To tell the truth, to drink until passing out was a very appealing idea at that moment. Too much.  
As he watched the Doctor carefully stitch up his hand, he thought back to the meeting with Harlock and to their duel in the gorge.  
He behaved like a fool, in every way, from not even considering the possibility that someone wanted to lure him into a trap to risk the success of the mission, the hand and maybe even his life with that reckless deed; from letting himself be taken in the rear by Hell Matear like a rookie to miss Emeraldas six times from less than ten meters.  
He watched the wound on Marina's forehead: had he done his work, she wouldn't have been obliged to expose herself like that.  
He tightened the sheet covering the bed with his free hand and, for the umpteenth time since he boarded the Bullet, he called himself an idiot: from the moment he had accepted the mission, he had known that the time to deal with Harlock would have come and had always been conscious that, by then, he would have had to put aside his emotions and act with coolness and determination... but he couldn't.  
_Again._  
He thought back to his father, to his Academy Instructor, to his former Captain: how many times had they repeated him not to let his feelings overcome him, not to let the passionate side of his character make him blind to dangers, incapable of reasoning?  
Infinite times and, over the years, experience had confirmed him many times and in painful ways how much their warnings were right.  
Yet, when it came to people he cared about, something snapped in him and the brilliant, inflexible United Earth Star Fleet officer went back to a boy unable to hold his emotions... a danger to himself and the others.  
He frowned. He would have gladly punched himself.  
- How was it? - The Doctor rubbed something on the cut, covered it with a sterile gauze and began to wrap his hand in tight rows of bandages - The Captain, I mean...  
Zero closed his eyes.  
- Terrible. He didn't even look like himself.  
It would have been a mistake to lie and a useless thing to sugar the pill: it would have just made the clash with reality harder.  
The Doctor sighed, tied the bandage, took another long sip and turned away.  
- All right. Come back tomorrow to have the medication changed, keep it clean and dry and take your antibiotics in the doses and at the times I have prescribed, please. If the hand appear bruised and hurt, hold it up to the height of the chest or put some dry ice on it; if it turn red, is hot to the touch or swollen, call me immediately, and the same applies in the case of fever or pus. For the moment I suggest you not take showers, only baths, and keep the arm out of the tub.  
- Thank you, Doctor.  
Zero turned to Marina.  
She had got up from the couch and all the traces of the blow she had received had disappeared from her forehead.  
He lifted his hand and looked at the bandage covering it from the wrist to the base of the fingers, thinking to the ton of recommendations of the Doctor and to all the time it would have taken before he could stop safely following them and grimaced: sometimes he really envied mechanized men.  
- Are you sure of what you have said down in the valley? That woman...  
- That wasn't Emeraldas - cut short her - You saw it too. My body reacted when I touched her.  
He looked away, upset.  
He loved that woman, he knew who she was, how her body worked and why she had agreed to become a biomechanical being, he knew how much she still regretted that choice, he knew that in the future he would have aged and died while she would have remained the same for hundreds of years... and he knew they would never have children, no matter how much both of them desired it.  
He had accepted all that a long time ago, but seeing the liquid bubbling inside her body every time she came in contact with someone or something coming from her home planet still disturbed him... perhaps because, most of the time, he liked best to fake he ignored the things he had accepted.  
- She was identical to her.  
- Yeah - Marina approached him - Identical to her _fourteen years ago_. Don't you find it strange?  
In fact, it was. Like the rest of the damn thing that, instead to clarify, seemed to become more and more complex as he and his companions investigated.  
Marina tied the scarf around her neck and looked him straight in the eye.  
- I have a theory. She may be a Shòu.  
- Maybe, indeed - Dr. Machine pinched his chin, a thoughtful expression on his artificial face.  
- You know those creatures? - Marina stared at him in surprise.  
- I studied the biology of different species, terrestrial, alien, mutant... in my work you never know what you might come across.  
- What's a Shòu? - Zero never heard about it.  
- A shape-shifter, Captain - the Doctor began to rearrange his tools - To be precise, a boneless humanoid whose body is held up by a complex hydraulic system of bladders and conductive vessels, with a skin made of cells that can change colour and transparent blood.  
- I saw some when I was Ship Doctor on the Arcadia - Doctor Zero picked up Mi and stroked its back – Stunning creatures, really: they look like as they are made of water and can change volume and colour, imitating anything they see! Ah, I remember the face of that old hen Masu when one of them became her, knives included!  
Marina looked down.  
- The Governor Vorder was one of them, before getting mechanized.  
- Doppelgänger, huh? - Zero played with the hem of his trousers, a faint hope in his heart - Then Harlock too could be...  
Marina shook her head.  
- You said he recognized you and remembered things you said fourteen years ago. A Shòu can imitate any creature it comes in contact with to the smallest details, but can't replicate memories.  
- It's true - confirmed Dr. Machine - Also, usually they can't maintain the aspect they take for a long time: Miraiseria's shape-shifters are almost entirely devoid of will and instincts, basics excluded.  
- But then not even Emeraldas could be one of those creatures - objected Zero - Whoever this woman was, she piloted like an ace!  
- Maybe for now you should stick to the facts and leave aside the assumptions, Captain - Doctor Zero emptied the bottle and put it in the glass container - If I were you, I'd listen to what the other team members have to say and then decide a course of action. A clue should have popped up, between all of you!  
He was right: it was useless to continue confusing himself with the most varied and imaginative hypothesis: he had to work on facts and, above all, act.  
He got up and tried to put on his shirt.  
He couldn't even bend his fingers to grab it properly and had to accept Marina's help to put it on. He hated being weak and depend on others, but was happy to see a tenuous smile emerge on his First Officer's lips as he raised his arms above his head like a little child.  
Despite his back and chest were a mosaic of scrapes and scratches which made him see stars when the cloth slipped on it, Zero thanked her with a half smile and gave her an affectionate pat on the hand when she buttoned the collar of his jacket.  
She looked into his eyes, dead serious.  
- Don't you ever try to do such a thing again, Zero.  
_I promise._  
He couldn't say it: it was an oath he knew he couldn't keep.  
If Harlock and himself ever faced again, _when_ they faced again... no, he didn't know what he would have done, he didn't know if he could manage to keep himself calm and be cautious, and above all he didn't know how it would have ended, if he would have come out alive or if he would have been able to actually kill him.  
He was strong, more than he remembered... much more: he had cornered him up until pushing him to that desperate move and, unlike him, he was determined, in a frightening way. He hadn't hesitated even for a moment, and had struck to kill every single time.  
_I do what I have to._  
Zero clenched his fist.  
_But what's that you have to do, Harlock?_  
- Zero?  
He looked Marina, opened his mouth, and only then realized he didn't know what to say.  
He kissed her hand, looked away, grabbed his hat and left the infirmary.  
When the door closed behind him, he called himself an idiot, pulled on his hat and went to the interrogatory room.  
When he came in, he was surprised to see Yattaran and those who were to be the other prisoners sitting next to his men, Yuki with her hands between the pale ones of a strange alien woman and Sylviana even sitting on the table next to Mayu. He scratched his head.  
- It seems I have missed something. Lieutenant, report.  
Ishikura stood at attention.  
- We have big news, Captain. The vanishing of Arcadia's crew members were orchestrated by them, but for self-defence - he pointed to the alien - Miss Mime's group which, like us, is chasing after Harlock, was attacked recently by some of their former comrades who had implanted a modified Hardgear chip into their brain. We suspect that Harlock himself may have his mind under control and...  
- Wait, you're telling me that he's become a... Herakles?  
Zero froze.  
For a man like Harlock, who had made of freedom his flag and his way of life, such a thing would have been a thousand times worse than death.  
Ishikura nodded, frowning.  
- Are you sure? - Zero looked at them one by one.  
- We have proof that that crazy project has been resumed - Yattaran approached him, his hands behind his back - Three exemplars of those chips, the results of my tests... and if Tetsuro did what he had to, even those of the autopsies of... the persons to whom they were implanted. We don't know for sure if the Captain has been transformed into a Herakles, but this would explain his behaviour. I am sure that, otherwise, he would rather die than kill innocent people or point a weapon against Yuki, Tadashi or Mayu.  
Zero too was dead sure about it. He thought back to Harlock's look, to his actions and his words, to how he had obeyed Hell Matear without hesitating a moment.  
And to how, in that Saloon, his brain had immediately recognized him and his heart not, as if something was missing, as if the part of him that made him unique in his eyes had been lost somewhere.  
- There's more, Zero - Tadashi grabbed the glass in front of him and squeezed it between his fingers - It looks like someone on the upper floors of Earth's Government is really helping our mysterious enemies: as we feared, they have access to top-secret informations and perhaps even to the Ministry of Defence's neural paths archive. I suspect that even the ambush set up for you was planned to the smallest detail, knowing you were here... and why.  
The glass broke with a sharp sound and the water trickled between his fingers, but he seemed not to notice it until Mayu took it off from his hand.  
- I have informations which, in part, confirm your theories - Zero took a deep breath - One of our enemies is Hell Matear.  
- What? - Rai looked shocked - Didn't she die in the Hell Castle?  
- Apparently not. She wants revenge, and claims not to be the only one. Sirs, Madams, it seems we're in the middle of a conspiracy... in the role of targets.  
Silence fell in the room. Zero took off his hat and turned it over in his hands.  
- But we have some clues: Némesis and Miraiseria. The first is the name of the ship on which Hell Matear and Harlock fled from Death Valley: a black ship identical to he Arcadia; the second...  
- The second is my home planet - the door opened with a hiss and Marina entered the room - Believe it or not, the pilot who came to rescue Harlock and Hell Matear from the gorge was an inhabitant of Miraiseria, with the appearance and skills of Emeraldas.  
Yattaran scratched his head and crossed his eyes, puzzled.  
- A shape-shifter, you mean? I'm not a biologist, but to my knowledge none of those creatures can replicate the skills of another living being... Yet, we're talking about people who could install a microchip in the brain of a friend of ours and implant the memory of other two into their clones, so anything is possible.  
- Clones? - Zero looked at him dumbfounded. _What the hell is going on? _  
- Let's confine ourselves to facts, at least in determining the strategy to adopt - Yuki stood up, a determined light in her blue eyes.  
Zero noticed with amusement that Tadashi, Yattaran and their companions had immobilized at the sound of her voice and that, at that moment, they seemed to hang on her every word.  
He remembered that, on the Arcadia, that young angelic-looking and sure-touched woman had been Harlock's First Officer. He sat down in front of her, stretched out his legs under the table and gave her his full attention.  
- All the targets of our enemies, all of _us_, have just one thing in common: a deep connection with Harlock. Their actions against you, Mime, and the ambush to you, Zero, were set up to prevent you from finding and talking to him; I think he's the key to everything. Now, we have two specific places from which we can try to find out something...  
She paused and looked around with deliberate slowness.  
- The Alpheratz star system, the one of the twin planets and, if I'm not wrong, Miraiseria's too. First objective: to find out what happened to the Arcadia and, if possible, to make it operational again. If the Némesis is similar to it in the armament and its Captain is Harlock, we'll need it desperately.  
- I agree - Yattaran crossed his hands on his chest - Plus, we can't leave a ship so formidable to its own destiny!  
- Well-told! - Maji dropped a pat on his back - You have no idea how much I miss that old space crock! I'll even work an entire year on bread and water, but if there is any breakdown, I'll fix it!  
Yuki cleared her throat and they both fell silent again.  
- Second objective: to find out if our enemies are really up to something on Miraiseria. It's close enough to the twin planets where the Harlock we knew disappeared and it's now a dead planet, an inhospitable ice desert... the ideal place to hide. I don't think it's a coincidence.  
Zero nodded. In fact, he thought the same: the coincidences would have been way too many. It was worth investigating, if only to finally see in person the formidable Arcadia, the invincible pirate ship built by Tochiro.  
- And the second?  
- Megalopolis, on Earth. Someone out there hatched the murder of Tadashi, attempted on my life and passed on confidential informations to Hell Matear and his companions. I'm sure that whoever this person is, he knows the identity and plans of the other conspirators; over the last years, experience has taught me there's no politician who buy a pig in a poke... especially if the article is a conspiracy.  
Zero looked into her eyes. He was sure she had a plan, and he was curious to see if it coincided with what he was thinking.  
- What do you propose?  
Yuki returned his gaze.  
- To use the same tactics of our enemies: infiltrate someone.  
- In the Ministry of Defence? - Sylviana whistled.  
- In the Main United Fleet Base - corrected Yuki - If our leaker is really a member of the Government and knows about our mission, he won't miss the opportunity to contact an officer of this crew on the outs with his Captain and awaiting reallocation.  
- A Trojan Horse? - Sylviana laughed - I like it! For a reasonable fee, count me in!  
Even Zero smiled. He had to admit it: Harlock knew a thing or two about choosing his subordinates. Yuki Kei was gifted with natural charisma, reasoning skills and a shrewdness which sure wouldn't have her cut a poor figure in the army, not nearly.  
- She said "an officer" - Ishikura watched Sylviana with disdain - For less, nobody would even bother.  
She shrugged casually and pointed Yattaran with her thumb.  
- Shorty, here, can have me pass for anyone as easy as ABC.  
- Sure! - Yattaran beat his fist on his plump chest with a jaunty air - Give me a computer and I can turn her into your mother or your Admiral, Mr. Ishikura!  
- The point is that she's not even a soldier - he insisted - She doesn't know anything about our protocols, the mission, the ship or the crew... and these are not things you can improvise or learn in five minutes. They would discover her at once!  
- They would discover at once one of you too - Sylviana ran a hand through her thick light coloured hair - Unless they are idiots, our friends will try to secretly monitor our spy: stalking, wire-tapping, hidden cameras... These are just the first things that come to my mind, and I don't think you United Fleet Boy Scouts are trained to deal with this kind of situations.  
- Well, she's right - Rai scratched his head.  
- And you could, Sylviana? - Mayu gave the bounty hunter an utmost interested look.  
- You bet - laughed Grenadier - She was in El-Alamein's "Red Rose" Secret Service squad... first-class bastards, let me tell it!  
- But Ishikura isn't wrong too - objected Rai - In order to learn certain things we had to put up with years in Academy and for others to practice with years and years of experience...  
- The solution is simple, as I see it - Tadashi filled another glass and lifted it to his lips – All it takes is just infiltrate two people: Sylviana and one of the officers of this ship. She could pass, like, for the wife or girlfriend of one of you.  
- With the advantage that, perhaps, she would be less watched and more free to act - Yuki nodded.  
- I wouldn't count on it - Sylviana got down from the table and leaned her elbows on it - But it's OK for me. It would be a convincing cover... as long as my partner is cute!  
- Who goes there? Between us, I mean - asked Grenadier - We need someone pretty high in rank and with severe insubordination precedents...  
Zero realized that all the members of his crew in the room had turned in the same direction. He followed their gaze, suppressed a grin and nodded to himself: indeed, _he_ was their man.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	20. A clumsy spy's long day

Ishikura opened his eyes at the whistle of the train.  
He pulled out his head from the window glass, stretched and looked out.  
The station had to be close by now, at least judging by the reduced speed and the stars less and less visible.  
- Glad you can join me, Sleeping Beauty - Sylviana was lying on her stomach on the front seat, her bare feet going up and down on her back. She looked up from the book she was reading and gave him a wide grin.  
He frowned.  
- Stop it. I have a name and I'd be glad if you used it.  
- What a child - she snorted and turned her eyes to heavens in a theatrical manner - Okay, _Shizuo_. Happy?  
The way she said it managed to irritate him as the stupid nicknames she had kept sticking on him since they met on Heavy Meldar, but he decided not to say anything. He didn't want to argue with her again, especially after the results of their latest squabble, or he would have strangled her.  
Her and that big, stupid brute of Grenadier who had gotten him into that trouble.  
And Daiba, who came out with that stupid idea... it didn't matter he was the Prime Minister and the head of the Army and even that he was already officially dead: after nearly a week of travel with La Sylviana he would have gladly faced the court-martial and even the fusillade squad just to let off steam a little.  
_What a crappy situation!_  
Sylviana resumed her reading.  
Ishikura was about to tell her she'd better put on those cow-girl boots of her and start gathering her luggage in view of landing, then changed his mind.  
He crossed his arms and resumed looking outside.  
_Sort it out yourself!_  
He was sick and tired to serve her as a waiter and a porter; he was a gentleman and he knew what his duties to a woman were, of course, but that one there imposed on it way too much for his taste: he had had to carry her things back and forth for two stops without any help or even a thank you, walk her hither and thither to go shopping as a stupid bodyguard, treat her to lunch and dinner... and all the time long swallow her nonsenses, her idiot nicknames and her constant teasing.  
Had it been for him, he would have slept and eaten on the train until their final destination: it would have been more safe and practical, with less possibilities to be left ashore for any inconvenience or attract attentions, but Her Majesty, no... she had taken the mission for a pleasure trip, had wanted at all costs to go shopping on Jupiter, to visit Mars for all the time estimated for the stop and to rest at the hotel, ten endless hours in the first case and twenty-four and a half in the second... and for that purpose she had shamelessy taken advantage of the Captain's order to stick together until destination.  
Not to mention the time they had spent together on the train... to defend his mental health, he had begun to sleep as much as possible.  
Luckily, that infernal journey would have ended soon, and then... and then the worst would have begun.  
A sound somewhere between a moan and a yelp came out of his throat at the thought.  
That one over there, pass as his girlfriend.  
_That one._  
He watched her, sprawled across her seat, her long legs crossed in a sexy manner, the soft curve of her bottom and her tiny waist, her blooming breast and her graceful face, enhanced by a light make-up.  
Indeed, she was beautiful. Very beautiful, he had to give her that... but her virtues began and ended there: her manners were quite rude, to say the least, she wore clothes way too loud for his taste and, what was worse, she had the power to annoy the living hell out of him as soon as she opened her mouth with her Threepenny sarcasm, her cynicism and her stubbornness. No, she was not and would never have been his cup of tea, he wouldn't have been attracted by her even if she had been the last female of his species in the entire universe and the survival of the human race depended on them, that was it.  
Unaware of his eyes and his thoughts, she turned on her back, crossed her legs and lifted the book up.  
His eye fell on the cover: blue, with the symbol of the United Fleet impressed in relief on the back of the lining. He sweated cold.  
- What are you reading?  
- Oh, your diary - Sylviana didn't even look up from the page to look at him - You fellow soldiers are really funny chaps, you know?  
Ishikura stood staring at her open-mouthed for a while, unable to utter a word, then felt the heat coming up from his neck to his cheeks.  
- But... but... but it's a personal thing! I've noted my innermost thoughts in it!  
- Exactly - Sylviana stood up and shrugged - All the time long you've done nothing but sleep, avoid me like the plague or be intractable: explain me how could I ever go for your girlfriend if I don't know anything about you?  
Ishikura didn't believe that excuse even for a nanosecond.  
He snatched the book from her hands and sank into his seat.  
- All you had to do was ask - he muttered - There was no need to rummage through my personal belongings!  
She laughed.  
- I don't think you would have confessed me some of those things like that - she snapped her fingers - You're an interesting guy, you know? I'd never have thought such a thing...  
Ishikura stood up, pulled down his suitcase and put the diary in, in absolute silence.  
He took a deep breath, counted to ten. Then he thought again about it, counted to twenty and began repeating for the umpteenth time the sentence which, since one week to the present, had become his personal mantra.  
_I must not strangle her, I must not strangle her, I must not strangle her..._  
- Come on, don't act like a little offended schoolgirl, _Shizuo_! After all, we're a couple!  
He counted to thirty and then up to forty.  
It didn't work: the wish to strangle her was getting more and more stronger, but, had he done that, he would have ruined the mission, disappointed the Captain and endangered the lives of his comrades.  
The_ real _ones_._  
- Do me a favour, Sylviana - he sat down and rubbed his temples - Be quiet for half an hour and do nothing.  
She crossed her arms and frowned.  
- Hey, look, it was not my idea to work together!  
- Nor mine. If you had not insisted...  
- Insisted? Me?! - Sylviana put a hand on her chest in a melodramatic way - I volunteered first!  
- Yeah. And I kindly pointed out that you were not fit for the job: no degree or military training, knowledge of the ship and protocols zero...  
- Oh, and you'd be fit, instead? - She stood up and towered over him, hands on hips - I bet you wouldn't notice to be intercepted or stalked even if the enemies placed neon signs as big as the Karyu and dressed like clowns just to warn you! And even assuming that, for some absurd miracle, you could get to the main computer of the Ministry, would you tell me how you intend crack the system and download the data interesting us, huh? Let's hear it!  
He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down, cold sweat trickling down his forehead.  
_How the hell could someone like her be an expert spy?_  
- Keep your voice down!  
- The compartment is empty, Mister Perceptiveness!  
_I must not strangle her, I must not strangle her, I must not strangle her..._  
The sound of a speaker announcing the arrival in Megalopolis and the screeching of the brakes kept him from his murderous intents.  
Not to have to interact again with that viper for a while and to stay in peace a few minutes, he forgot his intention to keep himself from being gallant and began to pull down the luggages.  
He loaded them on his shoulders, rushed down the hallway in a gallop and opened the train's door.  
He descended, arrived in front of the subway and looked back: she was not there.  
_No, don't you tell me... Then she do it on purpose! She wants to drive me crazy! _  
He backtracked and she almost fell on him as she went down.  
- Why the hell took you so long?  
Sylviana pointed to the bathroom.  
- Women things, okay? - she put on his already overloaded arms her stupid, monumental candy pink vanity case and went ahead - Get moving! I haven't got all day, and I want to go home. I'm tired!  
_So am I, of _you.  
Ishikura lifted his eyes to heavens, swore a little more between his teeth and followed her down the stairs, hoping that the Base shuttle bus was punctual and jam-packed, so maybe that witch would have shut up and been still for some minutes.  
The transition from light to shadow blinded him for an instant when he entered the subway.  
He paused a moment and took the opportunity to better balance the weight of all that stuff, to stop all of a sudden to the sound of a familiar laugh.  
- Shizuo? There's really you behind that pink thing? - he immediately recognized that warm and husky voice, tinged with humour.  
He dropped suitcases and bags, ignored Sylviana's complains and took a few steps toward the man who, a little far ahead, was laughing resting against the wall with his arms folded.  
- Minoru?  
- Who else, cute little brother of mine? - The man brushed a strand of his thick ash-blond hair from his eyes and looked at him amused - So it's true: your idol Warius Zero at last got sick of your cock-ups and kicked you out. What did you do this time?  
Ishikura gasped.  
- You see... actually... - he looked away and pulled the collar of his shirt, embarrassed.  
- I'm afraid that's my fault - Sylviana stepped forward and held out her hand to Minoru - Unfortunately Captain Zero didn't approve our relationship.  
Minoru studied her for a moment with great appreciation, smiled and grabbed her fingers.  
- Then Captain Zero doesn't understand anything about women - he bent down and performed a perfect hand-kissing - Or he's a connoisseur and wanted you for himself, in which case I don't blame him. Minoru Ishikura, to serve you, Miss...  
- La Sylviana - she smiled - You didn't tell me you had a brother so gallant, Shizuo.  
- I didn't knew about you either - Minoru stood up - And to think that this little bungler always writes me everything he does...  
Ishikura felt his cheeks aflame, for the umpteenth time.  
It was a nightmare: caught between that witch who was looking at his elder brother with doe eyes and spoke in a voice so sweet and soft to rot teeth a hundred miles away and Minoru who was chatting her up and giving her plenty of rope.  
He wanted to go back screaming on the Galaxy Express and flee to the ends of the Cosmos.  
- Let's talk on familiar terms - Sylviana lowered her head, her cheeks flushed in embarassment - and in private, Minoru.  
- Of course, my car is out there - he charged on his shoulder one of Sylviana's bags and offered her his arm - Have you eaten already?  
- Yes - cut short Ishikura.  
- Oh, you're jealous! - laughed Minoru - So it's true love, huh, Shizuo?  
_True love my boots!_  
He just wanted to get to the Base housing complex, reach his house and throw himself headlong under the shower.  
He passed them by, threw the bags into his brother's little sports car baggage and anticipated Sylviana when he opened her the door on the front.  
- So, what happened? - Minoru started the car - And why all that embarrassment, little brother?  
- You see... - a heated wave made him sweat and his throat went dry - Well...  
Sylviana put a hand on his shoulder and turned to Minoru a shy and worried look.  
Fake. Ultra-fake. But, hadn't he known, Ishikura knew he would have fall for it hook, line and sinker, just as he knew his brother would have done.  
- Captain Zero is very strict - piped Sylviana - He doesn't approve relationships between comrades.  
- He has a reputation as a hard-type, that's true - Minoru swerved and winked at her - But I don't see a good reason to...  
- He and Shizuo had many disagreements over the last years. I've been only a pretext to remove him from the Karyu, I know - she sobbed and real tears flowed down her eyes - But it was so cruel to put him in front of that choice!  
- What choice? - Minoru handed her his handkerchief, dumbfounded.  
- His appointment - Sylviana wiped her eyes and rubbed her belly - Or me... and our baby.  
_What?!_  
Minoru skidded and nearly slammed into a pole, but Ishikura was so shocked he didn't even get frightened. He kept himself from pinching his own thigh to check if that was a nightmare or something... and jump in the back seat to strangle Sylviana once and for all if the answer was no.  
She had just said... she _actually_ had just said his brother that he... they... she...  
He ran a hand through his hair.  
No, he couldn't believe it!  
_But what's going on in that head of her?!_  
He turned toward her, petrified. She had gone off on a tangent and he could see she had not the slightest intention to stop.  
- I embarked as one of the Ship's Doctor interns - she continued with a look so innocent to made Satan himself lose heart, but which made him desire to strangle her even more - It happened quite often that Shizuo got hurt, and over time... well... you can imagine how it winded up. When the Captain discovered that I was pregnant, he got very angry: he said he didn't want on board two irresponsibles like me and the man who had... oh, I'm so ashamed just to think about it! - she sobbed - It was then that Shizuo lost his temper and hit him...  
Ishikura looked at his brother. Minoru's face was shocked, but not as much as his own had to be.  
He covered it with both hands to hide it in case his brother turned toward him.  
Sylviana immediately seized the opportunity.  
- Oh, forgive me, Shizuo - she sobbed - I was just starting out, but you... I've ruined your career!  
_I ruin you_, he thought furiously. He tried a believable, reassuringly smile which he was afraid looked more like a growl, given his mood.  
- Don't worry, _my love_... It was not your fault.  
What a crappy situation... and now there was no way out: he would have had to support that mountain of lies. He took a deep breath and buried his hands in his pockets to hide the nervous trembling which had overtaken him.  
- Anyway, I took a special leave and applied for a transfer to the Command. It should arrive soon, but for now I just need some peace.  
Minoru nodded thoughtfully and drove in silence to the entrance of the Base housing complex; arrived at the checkpoint, he showed his ID and took them right in front of the building where he lived during leaves and periods on Earth.  
They unloaded the suitcases and went up the stairs in silence.  
Ishikura put his hand on an electronic lock and inserted the combination.  
The door opened with a hiss.  
- Well, this really is a surprise, little brother - Minoru came up behind him and dropped his bag on the floor.  
_Yeah, you can say that again..._  
Ishikura glanced at Sylviana, who smiled and winked.  
God, how he'd wanted to strangle her!  
- Please, have a seat, Minoru - she pointed to the sofa - Can I get you anything?  
- Nothing that's not expired by almost six years, I'm afraid - he laughed as he sat down - I only found out at the last minute of the arrival of this messer, otherwise I would have...  
Ishikura threw himself on the couch next to his brother and crossed his arms.  
- I'm no longer a baby, Minoru! I don't need you continually wet-nurse me.  
Minoru scowled and folded his arms across his chest in a pose mirror to his.  
- I definitely think it's quite the reverse, especially after what I've heard today. Do you realize that you're going to be a father? You should leave the army, or at least quit being an Operational...  
- Same old story again? - Ishikura sighed, exasperated - I've told you a million times what I think about it. Dad didn't manage to convince me then and you're not going to succeed now: my life is this, why can't you just accept it?  
- It's no longer just about you! - Minoru's face turned red as his had to be. He pointed Sylviana and his voice raised one pitch - Now you have to take care of her, and soon of a child too! What would become of them if you ended up like Takeshi, huh?  
That was a low blow. A blow he didn't expect from him.  
- Don't bring Takeshi into it! - he slammed his fist on the table, furious - Don't do that too, please! I know you don't share my choices, but at least I hoped you respected it!  
Minoru fell silent, pursed his lips and looked away.  
All the anger of Ishikura vanished when he saw his worried and sad expression.  
He would also have been right, he realized it... but there was no baby on the way, no pregnant girlfriend, no reason to argue. And he had enough trouble just like that. He shot Sylviana, who was watching them with tears in her eyes, a murderous look: he was sure that, behind that innocent mask, she was having a lot of fun.  
_I must not strangle her, I must not strangle her..._  
- Look, Minoru, I'm sorry - he sighed, sank back on the pillows, closed his eyes and rubbed his temples - It's just that I'm tired and I have so many thoughts on my mind. Can we discuss it another time?  
That, at least, was the truth. He stood up and put a hand on his shoulder.  
- I'm sorry too. Okay - he approached Sylviana, who embraced him eagerly and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek.  
- Can I consider you my brother too, Minoru?  
Ishikura blushed for her.  
_God, what a brazen-faced woman!_  
- Of course you can - Minoru gave her a goofy grin and bowed before heading to the door - Whatever you need, my dear Sylviana, count on me.  
He blushed for his brother too.  
_God, what a philanderer!_  
He took him by the arm and walked him to the door.  
While he was shutting it, his voice came to him from the stairs.  
- See you soon, "Silent Hero"!  
- Yes, of course - Ishikura rolled his eyes and grabbed the handle.  
- Come on, little brother - Minoru raised his voice and leaned on the landing - Just to prove me you don't have it in for me!  
- Stop it, you idiot! You're disturbing the whole building!  
- I can scream even louder if you don't please me!  
- Okay, okay - he capitulated - See you soon, "Truth."  
Finally, the footsteps on the stairs began again, accompanied by a cheerful whistling.  
Ishikura closed the door, leaned against it and let out a long sigh.  
_What an impossible guy! Just what I needed to have things a little more complicated... _  
- Do you really live here when you're on leave? - Sylviana was whirling around the house with an ecstatic air, apparently oblivious to the mess she had just made - The United Fleet treats well its officers! A far cry from the slums og recruits!  
He strode to her: now he would have given her a piece of his mind!  
- Sylviana! How did you da...  
She threw her arms around his neck and hushed him up with a kiss.  
- Oh, how happy I am, my dear Shizuo! - she squeaked.  
She brought her lips to his ear and whispered so softly that he found hard to make out the words.  
- Play along. It's full of bugs and cameras in here.  
Ishikura froze for a moment, then put his hands on her hips.  
He dipped his nose in her hair looking for her ear.  
- Are you sure?  
- Spy guarantee - she whispered against his neck - Let's go out.  
He followed her on the roof and his eye fell immediately on the ladder leaning against the wall.  
He touched it with his hand, and almost couldn't believe it was still there after seven years in which almost everything had been destroyed or had changed.  
Sylviana came up a couple of steps and gestured him to follow her.  
The tiles were warm when he climbed on the roof behind her. He looked around: the scenery was different from the one he remembered and he felt a stranger. Not as if it was a surprise: after all, he had been away for six years and, in the end, even before he had never really considered that place as his true home.  
Sylviana leaned against the chimney and observed the buildings around them.  
- Well. Up here we can talk without so many play-actings. They might be watching us from the building across the street, but we should be far enough for them to be impossible to read our lips. However, speak softly and move your lips as little as possible, one never knows...  
He came near her.  
- Great! Then explain...  
- One moment, Tin Toy Soldier - she put a finger on his lips - I'm the one doing the questioning. How did your brother know of our arrival? And most importantly, how did he know that you were "kicked out" by the Great Man?  
_Here we go._  
Ishikura pulled his collar so hard that the top button came off and fell. It rang for a moment in the gutter and then ended up somewhere.  
- I have no idea - he laughed, embarrassed - As you have no idea of what kind of phenomenal meddling is Minoru...  
- Yes - she sat down and rested her head so that her lips were covered by the forearms - A brother you didn't mention even once in more than a hundred pages of diary and whose nobody up there seemed to know about... but who loves you so much as to accept without a flinch a perfect stranger claiming to be pregnant with your baby. He said you write him everything you do: even the specs of a secret mission, perhaps?  
- Of course not! - Ishikura slipped and nearly fell down in the heat - What do you take me for?  
He sat near her and mimicked her pose. He observed the roofs around them and wondered if someone really was watching them. He felt like he was walking on thin ice chased by a wild animal.  
Sylviana looked at him. In the twilight, her blue eyes flashed with golden reflections.  
- You're good actors, you and your brother - she leaned towards him - Especially you. To pretend to be clumsy is a good technique when you know how to do it: people underestimate you and let their guard down... but that won't wash with me.  
- What do you mean? - a drop of sweat fell from his temple to his chin.  
She put her hand behind his head, grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back, then jumped on him. He tried to pull away but she stopped him by twisting her legs around his and flattened him with all her weight. She put her lips to his ear and laughed softly.  
- How ironic: I am sure that now, from a distance, we really look like two sweethearts in the mood for romance... it's really a pity I have to spoil the atmosphere.  
- What do...  
Ishikura suddenly heard a click, then the unmistakable feeling of a blade pressed to the jugular.  
He could hear the beating of his heart against the icy dagger's edge.  
A flick of Sylviana's wrist and it would have stopped forever. He swallowed.  
- Don't move or I'll slit your throat.  
- Are you crazy?  
- Not at all - she grinned - I think I've made a good part of my job, my dear spy! Your Boy Scout fellows trust you so much not to have wondered a few simple questions. I understand Daiba, hunging around that world since he was a kid... but you remembered a lot of things about the Herakles Project, too many for my taste: coincidence number one. Once we had the plan set on, you breathed fire to be entrusted this mission, _alone_: coincidence number two. We come here and we find your brother... who works at the Ministry of Defence.  
Ishikura's eyes widened.  
- How do you ...  
Sylviana laughed.  
- When I hugged him, I stole his wallet. Minoru Ishikura, Assistant to the Space Operations Commander. Coincidence number three, I see. They're a bit too much, don't you think?  
- Look, it's a long story, but I swear ...  
She pressed the blade stronger and closer, her smile cold as the thread of her dagger.  
- You swear you have nothing to do either with former Space Navy Secretary Mamoru Ishikura? - she let go of his hair - Oh, in case you were thinking to lie, see that it takes me a moment to ask Shorty to check.  
She put her hand on her neckline and opened the pendant around her neck; inside there was a transmitter, a small but powerful model used in the army.  
Isikura looked into her eyes.  
- I underestimated you.  
- You'd better not to do it again, given that in the end I decide to let you live - she whispered - Now, spill the beans. And hope to be convincing, Tin Toy Soldier.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	21. Reflections

Yuki consulted the star map and compared the coordinates og their destination with those of the Karyu. They were close to the goal, the area in the small asteroid belt between the twins planets of Alpheratz where Mime assumed the Arcadia was.  
She looked up, walked to the cabin's window and observed the darkness dotted with stars all around her.  
She remembered that once, at the beginning of her career as a pirate, she was afraid of it.  
That immense void, dark, cold, without oxygen and life, full of hidden threats, always made her feel lonely, weak and insignificant.  
_We all felt this way, me too._  
Her reflection for a moment became the face of Harlock, veiled by the visor of his space helmet.  
_Right now you're like a young bird before its first take off, a small being who knows it will have to jump in the void and flap its wings with all its strength to survive... This is your sky, Yuki, your freedom, but it's a prize that only those willing to fight day after day can win, only those who can bear solitude and silence, only those who can overcome fear. _  
She remembered his outstretched hand.  
_Although there will be someone by your side like me now, remember that it will only ever be you the one to take the first step, you to find the courage to be free, you to decide to fight. _  
She put a hand on the glass, as to caress that memory.  
_I never forgot it, Captain._  
At his side she had learned to know that immensity, to love its lights and darknesses, to consider it her home. Yet, an echo of that fear came back to wring her heart.  
- What are you thinking, Yuki? - Tadashi came near her.  
- Old memories.  
- Of the Arcadia? - his face reflected itself next to hers on the glass, frowned.  
Yuki nodded.  
- I think about it often too, of late. Was it not for you and Mayu, I think that, at this time, I'd be convinced that that period of my life was nothing but a dream.  
- Yes - Yuki leaned her forehead against the glass and savoured its coolness - A dream turning into a nightmare.  
He put an arm around her waist and remained silent at her side for a while, looking outside.  
- I wish I could promise you that everything will be fine - he muttered - I'd give anything to do it.  
- But you don't believe it, do you?  
Tadashi shook his head. For a moment, his expression came back to be the angry and at the same time vulnerable one of the boy at war with the world who, one day of seven years before, had come aboard the Arcadia.  
- You've seen it too - he put a hand on his chest - He's no longer himself. And if he really has one of those chips in the brain, perhaps... we'll have...  
His hand ran to the holster and his fingers closed on his Dragoon's handle.  
Yuki gasped, shivered.  
_Perhaps we'll have to kill him._  
She had thought of it constantly... and if, before knowing about the Herakles Project, that was just a vague fear, now it seemed to be almost a certainty.  
She thought back to the man in that old video, to the guards who had shot him in the head and she wondered if she could ever do such a thing to Harlock.  
_Her_ Harlock.  
She pulled up her suit sleeve and looked at the burns on the mend on her right arm.  
On Earth, she couldn't do it, not even to save her life.  
- You still love him, don't you?  
The question caught her by surprise.  
She turned to Tadashi.  
He hadn't moved an inch or changed expression and, for a moment, Yuki thought she just had imagined those words.  
- It's... complicated - she murmured at last.  
She couldn't not love Harlock.  
She owed him everything: her life, her freedom, everything she had learned and all she had become, for better or for worse.  
In the darkest moment of her life, when she believed she had nothing more to live for, he held her hand with his and taught her to fight and bear the weight of loneliness and memories, showed her that a house and a family were not just a place or blood ties and that she could still have and give much, if she only could find in herself the courage to do like him, to held her hand to someone and give him all.  
It had been only thanks to Harlock if, little by little, the darkness of her life had filled of lights and the space had ceased to frighten her, it had been only thanks to him that her future, which once had scared her so much, had become something to look forward with hope, a time in which her dreams would have come true, something to fight to the last for.  
She couldn't not love him and, now like then, she didn't care if theirs had never been a romantic love and never would become one: it was something she had long accepted and that did nothing to lessen the depth of their bond; it only made it different... and complicated, as all the bonds which had tied her to the men of her life.  
- Why do you ask now?  
Tadashi's eyes, set on the black universe, seemed darker than usual and shimmered with the reflections of distant stars.  
- I need to know - he turned to look at her - I want to know how much I will hurt you if I'll have to kill him. And...  
He paused, but she knew what he wanted to say: _and if you won't think I did it out of jealousy, if you'll keep on staying by my side. _  
Yuki felt split in half.  
It was not a new sensation: somewhere inside, she had always known that sooner or later the time to choose definitively between Harlock and Tadashi would have come... but that way, with what it implied, it was too painful.  
Both, in different periods of her life, had given her what she needed: Harlock had protected her, returned her the hope and taught her to fight to the end for what she believed in; Tadashi had made her know the joy of being the support of someone and getting support in turn, had given her the warmth and serenity that Harlock, perhaps, knew he couldn't give her.  
That ties were complicated, strong, impossible to break: those two men, so similar and so different, were all her life.  
A lump closed her throat and Tadashi' face contours flickered behind a veil of tears.  
_And you? How much will all this hurt you? How much it has already? _  
Harlock meant a lot to him too: he had saved his life, he had pulled him out of an abyss of hatred and remorse, he had given him comrades, ideals to strive for, a future to build and, above all, he was the person he most admired in the world, the kind of man he had tried to become all those years long... and at the same time he was a rival, someone to reach and surpass, a silent shadow always present in their relationship.  
The tears fell and, for a moment before he looked away, Yuki saw him frown.  
- Forget it - Tadashi let go of her and turned her his back - I got it.  
He walked to the door connecting the Captain's cabin to the main bridge and left without a word, without looking back.  
At that moment, with her silence, Yuki felt she had blessed his heart even deeper than Harlock with his gunshot.  
_What am I doing?_  
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and took a step to follow him, but at that moment the voice of Zero echoed over the speakers.  
- All crew, here the Captain speaking. We have located the Arcadia. I repeat: we have located the Arcadia. Prepare for boarding operations in twenty minutes. I repeat: prepare for boarding operations in twenty minutes.  
With a sigh, Yuki backtracked her steps, went into the bedroom and tied her holster to her hips.  
When she came out, the glass gave her back the image of a woman with the expression of the lost girl she once had been.  
_I'm the one to decide to fight and by which side. But sometimes it's so hard, Captain..._  
She put her hand on the glass again, but this time no reassuring memory came to her mind: she saw Harlock as she had last seen him on Earth, his cold, distant look, so different from the one of the man who once saved her from despair to make him look like a stranger.  
She shuddered and, while the door shutted close behind her, she tried to compose herself; she knew that everyone expected her to return to her First Officer role once back on the Arcadia and that she couldn't afford to look weak, confused or frightened.  
She couldn't, and _didn't want to_.  
On the bridge, Zero came to meet her.  
He still had his right hand bandaged and brought alongside the gun the Deputy Sheriff Carson had wanted at all costs to give him as a thank you for saving his life.  
The story of his duel with Harlock on Heavy Meldar came to her mind and, if possible, troubled her even more. Tadashi was right, it was useless to deny it: in all probability they would have had to fight him to the death... their or his.  
_And what will I do when this happens?_  
- We're ready.  
- Me too - Yuki straightened one of her gloves to avoid crossing eyes with Tadashi, standing behind Zero. She wanted to talk to him more than anything in the world, but it was not the time, it was not the place - The others?  
- They're waiting for us at the mobile ramps - his voice was toneless, so distant as to seem almost the one of someone else - Mayu wants to come at all costs.  
- There should be no danger - Yuki nodded - Let her meet her father again.  
- Tochiro - murmured Zero - It's so hard to believe...  
- Yet it's so. The Arcadia is alive, has a soul... and it' is the soul of somebody who loves Harlock deeply.  
She, too, at first, had been sceptical; to transfer the very essence of a man into a computer seemed so unscientific, so absurd that, at one point, she even had doubted of her Captain's sanity, but later she had to change her mind: many, too many times not to accept it.  
- With Tochiro anything is possible - Zero shrugged and took off his hat and jacket - Do you mind if I come with you? I would like to greet my old friend.  
Yuki gave him a thoughtful nod.  
She wondered if it would have been possible to communicate with the computer, as long as it was still operating, and above all if it would have helped them. For all she knew, Harlock was the only one who could speak and understand it... and he was not with them; on the contrary: this time, he was the enemy to fight.  
She followed Zero in the locker room, put on a suit and joined the group to the ramps: Mime, Yattaran, the Doctor, Maji and Mayu were waiting for them along with another fifteen men, the few remainings of the old Arcadia's crew.  
- So, guys, we finally go back home, huh? - Doctor Zero came to meet them, a toothy grin behind his helmet's glass.  
- I can't wait to get to work - Maji gave a vigorous pat on Yattaran's back - And resurrect the good old Arcadia!  
- Right, leave it to us - Yattaran returned the pat with equal ardour - And you'll see how we'll make it spick and span! Those bastards won't escape!  
- Yeah! We'll save the Captain and teach a lesson to the bad guys, as always! - Maji grabbed Yattaran and shook him vigorously – Like this, this and this!  
- And like this - Yattaran gave him a couple of slaps behind his head and a kick in the shins - And in the most painful ways possible!  
- Okay, okay, we got it - the Doctor separated them - But don't make me work before the battle... and above all, save your energy for your job, you suck fighting!  
There was a general laughter and even Yuki smiled, happy that at least they were so confident and determined.  
Then she glanced at Tadashi who was fastening his helmet in silence and her smile faded when she saw his grim expression.  
The metallic sound of the ramps beginning the engaging manoeuvre reached her ears.  
She put her helmet on, checked the suit's closure and loaded her gun.  
When the door opened, she went out first. The tunnel separating the two ships was long, dark, and, had it not been for the insulating material of the suits, cold as hell. As she clung to the side handles to give herself the maximum boost in the absence of gravity, she felt ice crystals crunching under her gloves.  
She lit the torch. A hundred meters more.  
Suddenly, Mayu grabbed her hand and she felt touched.  
She recalled that, at her age, she had had the very strong temptation to do the same thing with Harlock the first time she had followed him in a boarding.  
Se returned her hold, rushed forward and turned the knob of the door.  
The interior of the ship was just as she remembered it, except that it was dark, dusty and deserted.  
The image of those corridors lit day and night, full of all sorts of objects and people engaged in various and strange activities, reappeared immediately to her mind.  
She saw Taro and Kiddodo sitting on the ground in front of their board, Masu chasing after Mii and Tori-San brandishing her knives, Doskoi grumbling because someone, again, had stolen his freshly washed briefs; she heard again the happy confusion of those days and the metallic sound of her footsteps echoing in the silence made her feel alone as never since a lot of time.  
She checked her wrist oxygen level detector, took off the helmet and looked for the electrical box.  
She pulled the autonomous emergency generator lever. As expected, nothing happened.  
- We must supply the generator of gravium and fix the system up, or nothing will work here - behind her, Maji rolled up his sleeves - Me and my men are getting down to work, Yuki.  
- How long will it take for everything to be operational again?  
The Chief Engineer scratched his beard.  
- If there are no major failures and from the Karyu someone gives us a hand with materials and repairs, I would say that me and my team can get there in two or three hours at most for the bare essentials and in a couple of days for all the rest - he turned to Yattaran - Rather, how about checking the computer's status?  
- I was going to do it - Yattaran took off his suit and tied the bandanna on his head – Are you coming with us, Captain Zero?  
In the light of the torch, Zero's expression was unreadable as he looked around.  
He nodded and walked behind her, Mayu, Yattaran and Tadashi.  
- Oh, it seems that there's still some electricity, here - Yattaran winked in the direction of the faint line of light filterig through the bottom of the computer room's door - I guess Tochiro diverted here all the generator's residual energy to keep operating for as long as possible.  
- He was waiting for us - muttered Mayu - Dad...  
- Well, let's go - Tadashi rotated the handle and opened the heavy door with Zero's help.  
Inside, the huge main computer emitted weak flashing lights and a low hum.  
Yattaran dashed to the control station and immediately began hacking away in the light of the torch.  
Occasionally, his murmurs of approval and his muffled curses came to Yuki's ears.  
- So it's this - Zero took a few steps forward and went to the computer - The soul of the Arcadia...  
He hesitated a moment, then put his hand on the metal base and looked up.  
- Tochiro.  
Immediately, Yuki recalled Harlock and the first and only time she had seen him talking with the ship. He too, that day, had made the same gesture, looking up with the same expression, a curious mixture of serenity and sadness on his scarred face as he said that name.  
What followed, words and gestures... only the memory was enough to bring tears in her eyes.  
She approached too, trying to mask her uncertainty and anxiety.  
She had already tried to talk to the computer in the past, without success: no voice ever answered her questions, no particular thought ever crossed her mind in that room.  
- Tochiro, we need your help.  
Silence.  
- It's Harlock. He...  
She lowered her head and stood silent. She didn't know where to start from, what to say... and above all how to ask.  
Harlock was his best friend, the person to whom he had sacrificed everything and dedicated his life as a man until the very last moment, and perhaps they should have had to kill him: how could they ask for _his_ help?  
And how could they do it without?  
She raised her head and realized that everyone was watching in silence, waiting.  
- Let _me_ talk to him, Yuki - Mayu grabbed her arm - Please.  
Yuki looked into her eyes, then nodded: if there was one person besides Harlock who could get to Tochiro's heart or whatever remained of it, it was her.  
- We're in your hands, Mayu - she squeezed them and turned to Zero and Tadashi – Let's leave them alone.  
She left the room accompanied by the steps of the two men, the sound of Mayu's ocarina and the murmurs of Yattaran, too busy with his work to pay attention to anything else.  
She walked to the bridge and, as soon as the door opened, she was again overwhelmed by memories. She saw Harlock at the helm, Tadashi and Yattaran at their stations and Mime watching silently sitting on the Captain's chair when everyone was resting, alone or in the company of the Doctor and several bottles of liquor.  
She went to the radar station and ran a hand on the monitor. It was off, covered with a thick layer of dust that immediately greyed her glove.  
She sighed and looked out into the darkness beyond the asteroid belt.  
She wanted to put herself on the way straight off and, at the same time, to remain there forever.  
- Are you okay? - Zero's reflection mirrored itself beside hers on the dusty glass.  
- I should be the one asking - she smiled at him without turning back - You look upset.  
He shook his head.  
- It's nothing.  
Yuki was not convinced: since he had come to the computer, he had darkened like Tadashi if not even more and hadn't said a word.  
Even now, his face was pale and tense.  
She wondered if Tochiro had spoken to him and was about to ask when the lights came on with a buzz and the cheerful voice of Maji echoed in the intercom along with a mass of screams and cheers.  
- Main bridge, can you hear me?  
- I receive you, engine room - Tadashi took the headset and sat down at the radar station.  
- We restored the main generator. Luckily, here everything still works like a charm. I think we'll make it quicker to return operational than to remove all the dust that has accumulated! - he laughed - Well, it took a little luck, right?  
- Yeah.  
- And how's coming off good old Yattaran with the computer? I bet a nice booze-up that I would have ended before him!  
- We left him at work. I'll call him immediately - Tadashi pressed a few buttons on the console - Yattaran, here the main bridge. Yattaran, where are you?  
- I don't understand: everything here seems to work and it doesn't work quite noth... a moment!  
With a sudden flash, the central screen came on.  
- Yuki, Tadashi, can you hear me? - Mayu's voice.  
- Loud and clear.  
- Dad will help us. There's one important thing he wants you to know: it seems that the Nemesis is an exact copy of this ship, up to the smallest detail. I didn't understand how, but he can trace it.  
Yuki walked over to the desk and leaned next to Tadashi.  
- We know what its current position is?  
On the screen appeared a map. Not far from the area where they were, a point shone with a flashing light.  
- Miraiseria - Zero crossed his arms - Just as we supposed.  
- Let's proceed - was all Yuki could say.  
Zero walked to the door.  
- I'll be back on the Karyu. Let me know when you're ready to go and if you need technicians or materials.  
- Well - Yuki reached out and shook just the fingers of his right hand - Let us know if you get news from the Earth.  
At that moment, the door opened and Mime came into the room, a black bundle in her arms and Tori-San perched on her shoulder.  
She approached without a word, unfolded what turned out to be one of Harlock's cloacks and looked at Yuki with her big golden eyes.  
- We all agree - she draped the cloak around her shoulders with a single, quick motion - From now until Harlock's return, the command is up to you, Yuki.  
If _Harlock returns..._ was the distressing thought that ran through Yuki's mind.  
Mime locked the skull-shaped clip on her chest and Yuki turned to Tadashi. He stood up, walked over and looked into her eyes.  
- I'm waiting for orders, Captain.  
For some reason, Yuki felt as if an impassable wall had interposed between them: the same feeling of loneliness she had experienced when she had been clasped into that space cargo cell, nine years earlier.  
She gripped the cloak's edge between her fingers and forced herself to put aside her personal problems: it was not the time, it was not the place, and now that she had the responsibility of the ship, now that the lives of all the crew members depended on her and her decisions, she had to keep alert at all costs.  
Tori-San gave a sharp squeal and went to perch on the back of Harlock's chair, waiting. Yuki walked over and patted its head, but remained standing.  
No, she couldn't sit there, ever.  
As long as he continued to breathe, Harlock was the only one, true Captain of the Arcadia.  
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and pondered what to do.  
_Keep all busy, provide for basic needs, prepare for possible fights, set the course... _  
When she opened them, her ideas were clear and even her voice was firm.  
- Tadashi, call Maji and ask him a full report on the situation of engines and armaments, then tell Yattaran and Mayu to reach the bridge as soon as possible. Mime, go to the Doctor and see if we need food or medicines. Zero, we will inform you as soon as we are ready to depart. In three or four hours I should be able to provide you a full report on the ship's situation and an estimate of what it will take to reach full efficiency.  
- Roger that, Captain Kei - Zero gave her an admired look, saluted and went out.  
While Mime and Tadashi were busy carrying out her orders, Yuki looked up at the flashing dot at the centre of the screen and thought back to Harlock, to that day long ago when he had stretched out his hand to guide her to face the darkness she was so much scared of.  
She went to the helm, clasped the bar between her fingers and looked out beyond the asteroid belt, in the infinity of the cosmos. In a sense, she was in the same situation as then: she was about to leap into the void, with no guarantee of success, with no certainty except the one to have to fight with all her strengths. He was not there outstretching his hand to her but, somewhere out there, he was waiting.  
Whatever the truth was, whatever the fate awaiting both would have been, Yuki felt she had one duty only.  
_I'm going to fight, Captain, as you taught me._  
On the glass, her reflection gave her a determined look, as if it already had found what she sought.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	22. Warrior, Thruth and Silent Hero

Ishikura looked up.  
Above him, the sky was more and more red and dark.  
Under him, the tiles were warm, almost burning.  
Through the fabric of his uniform, his body was conscious of the weight and warmth of Sylviana's one, as well as his bare neck was of the blade's cold metal.  
He took a deep breath to even his heartbeat and gave her a hesitant smile.  
- Could you put away that spit? It makes me a little uncomfortable.  
- With all due respect, I don't give a damn. I'm on a mission. I risk life and limb. Whether you are the spy I'm chasing after, his contact or my trusty partner, you shouldn't hide anything to me... and you won't. Spit out the truth. The whole truth.  
- It's not that simple! - he complained - I never told those things to a soul...  
- The magic of the knife to the jugular made me the ideal confidant for a lot of people, up to this day - she murmured against his ear - I bet it will work this time too.  
He felt the blade's pressure increase and then a sudden pain, like the bite of several pins. A hot rivulet trickled on his throat and wet his collar.  
He looked at her in the fading light. She meant business.  
- So? You want me to move the blade a bit up and cut deeper?  
Ishikura closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn't even know where to start from.  
When he thought back to those things, and he tried to do it as few as possible, he always ended up in the uttermost confusion, even after so many years.  
- Like I said, it's a long story - he paused for a moment to collect his thoughts - It starts with my family, in the sixty-eight.  
He opened his eyes. She was still staring at him.  
- Go on.  
- The former Space Navy Secretary Mamoru Ishikura was my father.  
Sylviana didn't flinch. Apparently, she expected it.  
It was hard to believe that the serious, smart and tough woman who now held him in the palm of her hand with so much firmness was the same who had almost driven him crazy for a week with her frivolity, her childish behaviour and her coarse laughter.  
- In addition to me and Minoru, he had another son, Takeshi.  
- The one because of whom you and your brother almost quarrelled a little while ago?  
- Yes. He was eight years older than me and five than Minoru. He was squadron leader of a space fighters unit... and my hero.  
- What happened to him?  
- When the war with the Extra Solar Cosmic Government broke out, he refused to make the most of our father's position or pretend being unfit for combat to avoid being sent at front. He left with the 66th Fleet and died in battle less than a year after the beginning of the hostilities, in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.  
He remembered the little metal box containing the few remains of Takeshi, wrapped in the Federation's flag and stacked with countless others in the hold of that huge, dark cargo space.  
He thought he heard again his father's torn cry, but maybe it was just a dog, somewhere in the streets below them. He blinked to dispel that memory.  
- Since then, my father changed. He moved heaven and heart to prevent Minoru being called at front and convince me to leave the Military Academy.  
- But he couldn't.  
- No - he shook his head - I was seventeen, I hated the Mechanized Men with all my heart and I burned with the desire to fight. I ended by falling out with him: all his life he had encouraged me and my brothers to be soldiers like him and his predecessors, had filled our heads with so many fine words, glorious ideals and stories of heroism, and just when we really had to fight to defend our world and all that was dear to us, he wanted us to back down. He told me it were just words, that all he wanted was a safe and prestigious place for his boys and that no ideal was worth our lives. He also said that Takeshi had been a fool to leave. I felt... betrayed: everything my brother was, everything _I_ wanted to be, to him was nothing but a lie... Well, not for me. I left home and broke all ties with him. Or at least I tried.  
He realized he was trembling with anger and he was surprised: so much time had passed and yet, it seemed, he still couldn't bury it deep in his heart.  
Or perhaps he had done it for too long.  
He took another deep breath. That was not even the worst part.  
- He didn't accept it and made my life hell: entreaties, threats, blackmail, dirty tricks and all kind of interferences... he spared me nothing. The last three years of Academy were the worst of my life - he clenched his fist - I graduated with the minimum of votes when the war was already lost and I ended up Lieutenant on the Mirage.  
- The ship where the Mechanized Men had the Great Hero shunted?  
Ishikura nodded.  
- It was the only Independent Squadron's ship to be always under organic, a tugboat commanded by a disgraced Captain rumoured to be getting as nutty as a fruit cake and with a crew of tired veterans, newbies and bunglers. To end there was the bugbear of every officer, but I would have agreed to anything to get away from the Earth and my father. At that time I hated him, I just wanted to forget I had his blood in my veins, so I've never spoken to anyone about him then, and after... well, it was too late.  
- And no one ever made the connection?  
- Ishikura is a very common surname - he shrugged - And then the son of a big shot, as incompetent as he might be, would be expected to cover most prestigious positions.  
- Well - concluded Sylviana - So you told me the story of your life. All very interesting, but what has all this to do with the Herakles Project?  
- I'm getting there - he muttered - I told you it was a long story.  
He tried to slip a hand under his jacket but Sylviana stopped him.  
The blade of the dagger came back to bite his throat and her legs tightened harder around his.  
- Calm down! - a drop of sweat trickled down his temple - I'm unarmed, I just wanted to take my wallet.  
- Rule number one: don't move without first advising me of your intentions. Try it again and I'll slit your throat.  
She freed his legs, sat astride on his basin and unbuttoned his jacket with one hand, in a couple of quick moves. She pulled his wallet out of his pocket with a speed and a dexterity worthy of a professional pickpocket.  
She opened it, fumbled in the pouches and pulled out a photo.  
Ishikura saw her boggle when she watched it.  
- Turn it - he encouraged her - Read the names.  
She obeyed. All over her face was written an amazed look that, he could have sworn, this time was completely genuine.  
- _This_ was your brother Takeshi?  
Ishikura nodded.  
Sylviana stared at the picture for a moment, then took her knife away from his throat.  
- We don't look alike at all, I know - sighed Ishikura - Takeshi had taken from our father, while me and Minoru look like our mother.  
He remembered his brother's brunette hair, his deep and expressive brown eyes, his long and straight nose and his thin lips, his athletic body and the iron grip of his hands.  
In that photo he was in full uniform shortly before leaving for the front and smiled a little tipsy with one arm around his neck and the other around Minoru's one.  
He wanted to remember him like this forever, but sometimes the image he had of him was another... and now he had to bring it back.  
He leaned on his elbows and moved his face near to Sylviana's one. - Takeshi Ishikura - he murmured with a bitter grimace - The first Herakles. Or rather, one of his many unnamed clones tortured to death by Kurai with the consent of his biological father and filmed by someone.  
Sylviana looked at him puzzled and the memory of the moment he first had seen that video came back to his mind, clear as if he had just experienced it.  
He was on that icebox of planet Beta, in front of the umpteenth cup of grog, with Grenadier who had not the slightest intention to give in, Rai snoring drunk since over an hour, Nohara, Eluder and Kaibara rooting and the Captain, as fresh as a daisy, drinking Heavy Red Barbour like it was mineral water and speaking softly to Marina.  
At one point, the big screen above the bar had darkened and he had lifted a curious gaze upon it, like everyone else.  
He had thought of a breakdown and was about to resume emptying his cup when the image of that laboratory had appeared.  
A zoom on that damn bed and he had seen the sleeping face of his brother.  
Then, as he still was wondering how such a thing could be possible, the horror had begun.  
He couldn't remember anything about what had happened around him during the time passing between the image of those dark eyes suddenly widening and the one of that poor body lying on the ground, riddled with bullets and with the head reduced to a shapeless bloody pulp, he couldn't remember getting up or dropping the cup or even running out of the room; the only things he had been aware from that moment on were the Captain's hand on his forehead and his arm supporting him while he vomited even his soul in the snow, then the total darkness.  
When he had recovered in the Karyu's infirmary, he had told his friends that maybe cold and alcohol combined with those frightening images had made him that effect.  
They hadn't doubted it: Grenadier had even given him a pat on the back telling cheerfully he hadn't been the only one who got sick that night.  
He returned to the present and observed Sylviana put the picture back in his wallet.  
- My father's name was in the documents which arrived at the Military Police simultaneously with the transmission of that anonymous video, together with the proof of his involvement in the Herakles Project. He provided covert funding, premises, equipment and the DNA and neural path of a deceased soldier for the experiments... now you know who. They arrested, tried and condemned him. But I think you already know it.  
She nodded and brushed a strand of hair from her face.  
- Shorty's good. He procured me all the remainig acts of the processes to the responsible of the Herakles Project, Mamoru Ishikura included. I studied it on the road while you were busy avoiding me, grumbling or sleeping. I wonder how could all this story not leak, at his process: Takeshi was his son, but there's no mention of him in any of the documents in my possession.  
Ishikura sighed.  
- Minoru and me asked that the identity of the soldier from which these clones were generated was not disclosed. He was already working at the Ministry of Defence, I was a young war hero decorated for bravery and Takeshi himself had been a respected officer. All that the Judge of the Military Court and the Army wanted was to close the case and let the dust settle... they were all very happy to please us - he smiled, bitter - They established that, as a person, Major Takeshi Ishikura had died in the field in sixty-nine, that his clones were to be considered as individuals unrelated from him and from each other and celebrated the trial behind closed doors, at the same time with the one for crimes against humanity against Kurai's attendants. They were very skilful in passing it all over in silence, from the reading of the charges to the final judgement.  
- It's the truth?  
He looked into her eyes, with difficulty. It was almost dark.  
- Do you think I could invent such a story on my two feet? Looks like I'm playing?  
- No... I don't think you're so good - Sylviana rolled to the side and freed him - In fact, I'm starting to believe you're incapable of lying. How did it end up with your father?  
Ishikura sat up and rubbed his neck.  
- I took a leave and went to the trial with Minoru. It was the first time I saw him in person since I embarked on the Mirage. We didn't part well, but we became close again: we didn't have anyone else left in the world and we wanted the same thing... understand _why_. You know what that... that... that fool told us? That he wanted to _protect_ us, that he and Kurai wanted to protect _everyone_ in the world and that guy in the video was not our brother, no, only his DNA. Only his _DNA_, you got it?  
He punched the tiles, amazed at how, after so many years, he could still nurse such a violent and deep grudge.  
- They condemned him to life imprisonment, and I was _happy_ - he turned to Sylviana - He committed suicide in jail after less than a month and I didn't feel _anything_. I was convinced that the nightmare was over once and for all... but...  
But, apparently, that horror was starting over again. Someone had taken those crazy experiments and someone else was helping him just like his father did with Kurai.  
He thought of the little girl, of Daiba, of Yuki Kei and of his Captain, who he admired and considered a friend: they were in the same situation in which he had found himself ten years earlier, with the aggravating circumstance that Harlock had already killed people and perhaps could do it again.  
- Do you feel guilty? - Sylviana was a dark silhouette against the sky where the first stars were beginning to lit up.  
Ishikura rested his chin on his knees and wrapped his arms around it. Old unanswered questions kept echoing in his head once again.  
Had he been right to go on his own way at all costs? Had it been his decision not to give up the military career to drive his father to support the Herakles Project? Had it been his fault if he had turned into a madman with his hands stained with the blood of his brother and who knows how many others?  
- I don't know - he ran a hand over his eyes - I just know I can't let such a thing happen again. I'm ready for anything.  
Sylviana stood up and turned her back to him.  
- You know, if I found out about this story or even just imagined it earlier, I'd have kicked you back on the Karyu - she dusted off the soot from the back of her dress - A partner getting off the deep end like you is a loose cannon on a mission like that. But it's too late. If you left suddenly, your brother would suspect.  
Ishikura stood up and approached her.  
- What does Minoru have to do with this?  
- See? You think with this - Sylviana planted her index first on his chest and then on his forehead - And not with this, as you should. Dear Minoru works on the upper floors of the Ministry, knows you better than anyone else and you trust him: he's the ideal pawn to draw out informations from you, assuming he's not just the person we're looking for. And know that, as I see it, the second option is most likely.  
- How can you say such a thing? Our family has been _destroyed_ by the Herakles Project! Minoru suffered more than anyone else for our father's madness... and... and he's my brother!  
- It means nothing. Everyone has a price, even brothers who say they love you.  
Ishikura got blind with rage. He grabbed her by the neckline of her dress and pulled her closer.  
Then he looked her in the face and something in her expression stopped him with a hand in the air: she looked... _sad?_ She looked away and stood still, her arms at her sides.  
She wouldn't have done so, had she wanted to attack or escape him.

For some reason, he was sure about it.  
_What am I doing?_  
He let go of her and pulled away, upset.  
He had imagined several times to strangle her, tie her, gag her, slap her or throw her off the train during that last week, but as irritating and capable of anything as she was, she was a woman... and he would never have done such things for real, unless maybe he was forced to do it to save his life: he always thought that venting one's own frustration that way was for cowards.  
- I'm sorry - he closed his eyes and rubbed his temples - This whole thing is freaking me out, but I should never have done that.  
- It doesn't matter - Sylviana settled her dress - Maybe I'm gone too far. But as long as someone else doesn't pop out, your brother is the first among my suspects, like it or not: from what I understand, he's got free access to this flat when you're not there... and he knew of your arrival without you warning him.  
- He's a meddler, I don't deny it - Ishikura put his hands on - He think I can't take care of myself and believe he must defend me from the world since we were kids, I know he always try to have all the stuff about me passed to him at the Ministry and when I come here he doesn't give me a moment of peace, but from this to fill my house with microphones and cameras...  
- I have a feeling he's hiding something.  
- Now it's you the one not thinking with the head - he teased - Come on, don't you really trust anybody?  
Sylviana leaned over and climbed down a step of the ladder, the usual cheeky grin back on her face.  
- No - she smiled - And it's thanks to my mistrust that I'm still alive and well, then I keep it with the due respect. In fact, you know what? You should learn this art too, my dear Tin Toy Soldier.  
He decided to change the subject.  
- Look, are you sure that the apartment is full of bugs and microphones? I have to contact the Karyu.  
- Oh, and why?  
He bent down next to her, glad that the darkness hid his face.  
- You dare to ask, too? - he jumped - We need to have our personal records and the reports still to be sent changed to confirm all the lies you told my brother today, at least in broad outline. May I know what the hell were you thinking?  
- He would have discovered you, otherwise - Sylviana shrugged - He understood at once you were hiding something. And right then it looked like a good idea to me. I didn't know he worked at the Ministry.  
- You told him you're pregnant! With _me_! - he shook his head - Like this, as if nothing had happened... I still can't believe it!  
- It's all talks - she snorted - We're not going to stay here long enough to create any suspicion about it. Once this story is finished, you can tell him the truth, that the child was of somebody else, that I died in childbirth or any other excuse you can think of. Unless you really want a child with me, Shizuo...  
Ishikura put a foot wrong and almost fell on her.  
- Not even if you were the last woman left in the entire known universe... and in the nknown too - he let out.  
He heard her chuckle and he smiled in the darkness.  
It was strange: he hadn't felt so calm since a lot.  
Maybe to have finally spelt the beans and let off steam with someone had done him well... even if that someone was a person who, most of the time, was pleasant to him like a finger in an eye.  
- Leave it to me, for that matter - Sylviana landed on the terrace, opened the door and nodded in agreement while wearing again her suave girlfriend's mask – Let's take the bags and put on something more comfortable, my love...  
He was sure he had blushed again, both for the tone and the gesture, rather explicit, she had accompanied her speech with before disappearing over the bedroom's door.  
He silently prayed not to have to regret the choice to trust her and grabbed the bags.  
When he entered, Sylviana had already opened the cupboards and was intent on making the bed.  
He dropped the bags and gave her a puzzled look.  
- What's your purpose? - he asked uncertain.  
- Can't you guess? - she stroked her side and got closer with slow, sensual movements.  
She grabbed his arms and pulled his jacket with a single, energetic tug, then she swung it over her head and threw it on the dresser. She gave him a shove that knocked him down onto the mattress, leaped astride and pulled her dress over her head.  
Even that ended up thrown somewhere.  
- Sylviana - Ishikura swallowed, his body temperature increased by at least a couple of degrees - What the...  
She put a finger to his lips and motioned him to be silent, then took off his shirt, which ended up hanging from the chandelier. She put her mouth to his ear.  
- The mini-cameras are neutralized for the moment, but I can't do anything for the bugs. It would be too suspicious if all the surveillance systems they have installed stopped working suddenly, so speak softly. Very softly. Call, I'll create a diversion.  
Sylviana released him and he took the hand-held computer. He turned on Yattaran's anti-wiretapping device, linked on the protected line, waited until the connection was stable and put the headset on.  
- Ithaca - he whispered - Ithaca, do you copy?  
- Odysseus? - Marina's voice was distant but clear.  
- Yes - Ishikura put his lips to the microphone - Ithaca, there are urgent changes to be made to my personal file: insert code 237850...  
He stopped and turned to Sylviana, who had started jumping up and down on the bed with increasing force and speed.  
- What the hell? - he asked without enunciating. Then, a thought froze him - They'll think we're...  
He read her lips: "Just what I want". She let out a moan that made him blush to the root of his hair and stood up. The springs began creaking and the headboard banging against the wall. He averted his eyes from the hypnotic movement of her breasts wrapped in pink lace and forced himself to look only at the screen.  
- Did I get that right? 237850? - Marina's voice was perplexed - Do you want us to put in your file the "immoral behaviour" entry?  
- Yes, and specify "with the trainee doctor, recruit... you know who - he muttered - I also need you write in the reports for the Ministry that I got for the Captain during a quarrel about it and left the ship with her. And I should also use some ultrasound scan attached to her file... uh... of a foetus in the first months... yes, well...  
- Oh, Shizuo... yes! - moaned Sylviana.  
- Ish... Odysseus, what are you doing? - Marina's voice was either alarmed, embarrassed or annoyed.  
- Yes, my love... ah!  
- Er... Penelope is creating a diversion. We're under audio surveillance.  
Silence. And utter embarrassment, at least on his part.  
Sitting shirtless on the bouncing mattress, a raving mad in lingerie jumping and moaning beside him, he could imagine the red face of Marina as if he was facing her.  
And the comments of Rai, Eluder and Grenadier once he came back...  
He already could hear them, they would have not given him a moment of peace for ever and ever.  
He just wanted the ground to swallow him up .  
- All right, Odysseus - his senior officer finally assented, curt - Anything else?  
- Penelope wants me to tell you that maybe we have a contact. We'll check in the next few days.  
- Well. For my part, I must inform you that the first part of our plan has been successful.  
- Reall... ah! - something, namely a glazed pink toe, pierced his right hip.  
"Leg up a little bit" was what he read on Sylviana's lips when he looked up.  
- I have to close - he rubbed his sore hip - Good luck, Ithaca... Ah!  
- You too. Out.  
- Oh, Shizuo, I love you! - Sylviana threw herself dead weight next to him and pinched his thigh.  
Ishikura shouted, not by pleasure.  
And it was not love what he felt for her in that moment.  
_I take back whatever positive I have thought about her: I'm definitely going to strangle her, should I lose my skin! One, two, three... _  
- You're as red as a beet, Shizuo _dear_ - she giggled - Are you tired?  
_Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven..._  
He tried not to look at her.  
- Cover you... _honey_ - he growled - You'll catch a cold...  
- I don't have any pyjama with me, _darling_ - she chirped - Do you mind if I take one of yours?  
Just the time to say it and she had already opened his suitcase; a couple of quick moves and she had it on: it seemed that his luggage had no secrets for her.  
Like _him_, now.  
He gave up the idea to ask her what the hell she carried in those heavy suitcases she had made him drag through all the solar system and what the hell she had bought during the stops of the Galaxy Express, took his pyjama bottom and spare underwear, went into the bathroom and jumped under the shower.  
When he came out, finally no longer taut like a coiled spring and a bit less angry, she was already under the covers.  
He noted she had removed the clothes from the points where she had thrown it, and imagined he had to play his madly-in-love-boyfriend's part in front of the cameras.  
_Oh, well... It can't be more embarrassing than what happened before_, he sighed.  
He laid on the other side of the bed, covered himself with sheet and blanket and sat on his side, his back to her.  
- Good night.  
He felt her moving towards him and putting a hand on his shoulder.  
- Can I ask you something?  
- If you really have to - he whispered.  
- What was that story of "Silent Hero" and "Truth"? A sort of secret military code?  
He let out a laugh.  
- It's an old game when my brothers and me were kids - he turned to her - Every now and then we called each other with the meaning of our names: Takeshi means "Warrior," Minoru "Truth" and Shizuo "Silent Hero".  
Sylviana remained silent for a while, her eyes fixed on the ceiling and her hands behind the head, then sighed.  
- You know what? I envy you.  
- For what?  
- These memories.  
He looked at her.  
Under the dim light of the lamp, her expression was distant and again veiled with melancholy.  
- Your brothers.  
He wondered what she was hiding in her past, why that topic was so delicate and what could have led her to believe that not even family could be trusted.  
He got quite a hard thrashing with his father, sure, but he had never thought such a thing, not even for a moment.  
He swallowed and took his courage in both hands.  
- No secrets between partners - he encouraged her - Spill the beans.  
- You don't have the knife - she giggled - And, by the way, it has nothing to do with this story.  
She rolled over and turned off the light.  
- Goodnight, Silent Hero.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	23. Ifiklìs

Tadashi straightened in his chair when Dr. Zero and Doctor Machine entered the meeting room of the Karyu, followed by Yattaran.  
They looked tired, all three: for over three days they had been working, together or separately, on the files Tetsuro had sent from Megalopolis.  
- So, what conclusions did you reach? - in his seat, Zero turned his hat over in his hand, his expression tense.  
- It's really unbelievable, Captain - on the mechanized doctor's artificial face still lingered a shocked expression - Whoever did this is a genius!  
- Yeah... too bad it's an evil genius - Doctor Zero stroked Mii's head, placed it on the table and nodded to Yattaran, who sat down at the computer station.  
The lights dimmed and on the screen appeared the picture of a human brain dissected at various depths. A note on a white tag at the bottom of the screen, handwritten in round and regular letters, identified it as belonging to Kiddodo's clone.  
With the corner of his eye, Tadashi saw Yuki turn pale and look away.  
He grabbed at her hand but stopped when he saw her tighten it on Harlock's cloack edges, as if looking for _his_ warmth and protection.  
He clenched his fist and paid his attention back to the images.  
- The chip works as first generation Hardgears - Yattaran zoomed the image and pointed an area - Once inserted and activated, it enters in symbiosis with the body and begins emitting high frequency alpha waves to induce in targeted brain areas a trance-like state, more and more deep. The electroencephalograms Tetsuro and Dr. Ban sent us are clear: from the normal eighty cycles per second of the waking state, the mental activity of the subject implanted downs to the forty of the hypnosis in two or three hours and almost disappear after another hour at most, and if the subject is already in a state of sleep, natural or induced, the process is even faster.  
Zero gasped.  
- How did they get these data? Is it not that...?  
- Don't worry, Captain! - laughed Yattaran - Tetsuro's not the type. If there's something he hates more of Ra Andromeda Prometheum's distorted ideas on technology and the use to make of it, that's the thought of taking away from someone his freedom to act and think by himself. It seems he's in contact with a guy who provided him a lot of material on Herakles, old and, alas, most recent.  
- Why didn't you tell it earlier, Yattaran? - Yuki leaned towards him – We could arrange to make him work with Ishikura and Sylviana!  
Yattaran shook his head.  
- I already asked Tetsuro to let me have a chat with him after the first time we contacted each other about those chips - he scratched his chin – He would have been useful to me too. Unfortunately, not even he knows who his informer is or how to contact him: it seems he's the cautious, almost paranoid type. However, we can discuss it straight with him in a little while: the hook-up is scheduled in half an hour.  
Doctor Machine settled his coat and sat down in turn.  
- Returning to the results of our analysis, Tetsuro and Dr. Ban's forensic tests and comparative studies broadly confirm the initial assumptions of Yattaran: the modified chip inhibits the right cerebral hemisphere's activity, especially the limbic circuit. Feelings, emotional memory, instincts, moral and personality of the implanted subject are almost cancelled.  
Dr. Zero looked at Yuki, Tadashi and his namesake Captain one after the other.  
- Remember what you told me of your meetings with the Captain? - he grabbed a glass, looked at the bottles on the table, all of water, grimaced and put it down - That you recognized him on the rational level but not on the emotional one?  
Tadashi nodded.  
The memory of the emotions he felt when he saw Harlock in his study sent him a shiver down his spine: amazement, disbelief, fear... and, above all, the eerie feeling of being in front of a stranger, even knowing he was facing one of the people he most loved and admired in the world overtook him suddenly.  
Next to him, both Zero and Yuki nodded.  
- Well, guys... we mere humans are not empathetic to the levels of Mime or Tori-San, but it's the same mechanism which allowed them to feel there was something wrong in Doskoi: a perception of the emotional mark making a known person unique... or the lack of it, as in this case.  
- In the case of Mime, there's also the innate ability to sense brain waves - popped in Yattaran – She herself can also emit alpha waves to lower the ego's defences and enter into people's minds. With Doskoi, she said she already found those defences down and it was impossible to feel traces of desires, feelings or instincts of any kind in him. It was from there that I got the idea of the detector: at the end of the day, my toy is nothing more than a device to detect the right cerebral hemisphere's activity and brain waves, tuned to a frequency from fourteen to thirty Herz; below this threshold, we are faced with a subject not entirely in itself.  
Zero put his hat on the table and poured a bit of water in a glass.  
- If I understand correctly, the brain waves emitted by the chip are what erase the will of the implanted subject. If so, it would be enough to eliminate the radiation to have him return himself, right?  
Doctor Machine shook his head.  
- It's not that simple, unfortunately. Ten years ago, Kurai already performed tests in that direction: actually, the irradiation with beta waves at a lapse greater than the one of alphas emitted by the chip awakened the implanted subjects, but the effect was a rejection crisis similar to the one we can see in the first Herakles' footage. Two wills, the original one and the one of the person controlling the chip, came into conflict. The result was an unbearable pain that led to madness or even death the test subject's brains.  
- Dear Professor couldn't let his super soldiers go into a tailspin for so little - Yattaran grimaced in disgust - So, he shielded the chip and modified it so that it would have been impossible to awaken the implanted subject's consciousness with an external intervention. Taro and Kiddodo's chips are an example of that: subjected to irradiation of beta waves, they react by lowering the brain activity by emitting theta or even delta ones. In other words, they compensate any stimulus to the awakening by putting even more their guest's right cerebral hemisphere to sleep.  
- But the rejection crisisi are still there - objected Tadashi - Both you and Yattaran told us that Taro and Kiddodo went crazy soon after their capture.  
- In part it was because their minds tried to overcome the conditioning, of course - Doctor Zero grabbed Mii before it started to sharpen its claws on Dr. Machine's coat - In non-mechanized people, the original personality seek alternative ways to impose itself back and not succumb... Unfortunately, with the results my associate described. All the subjects implanted by Kurai we could study the dossier, sooner or later, died or went mad because of that, despite the attempts the Professor did to prevent it... But in the case of our poor two friends' clones, their death was decided and accelerated by those controlling them.  
Tadashi gasped, horrified.  
- You mean they were killed on purpose?  
Yattaran filled a glass.  
- According to the documents Tetsuro's informer provided us, the chip can translate all the brain's electromagnetic pulses in recordable data: each picture, sound and feeling the implanted subject perceive arrive to those controlling him - he drank - When we captured Taro and Kiddodo'clones, whoever commanded them saw it all live and decided to get rid of them: all it took was to disable the emission of the brain waves without breaking the mind control and the greatest flaw in the Herakles project became a convenient self-destruction device.  
- Are you sure? - Zero was white as a sheet.  
- Unfortunately, yes - Yattaran put the glass down, took off his glasses and blew on the lenses – The instrument analysis of the two chip highlights a contemporary shut-down of...  
- Bastards! - Tadashi struck his fist on the table, full of anger and disgust - But why?!  
Yuki grabbed his fingers. Under the fabric of the glove, her hand was icy cold.  
Yattaran spread his hands.  
- I have no idea. I doubt that those poor fellows knew anything and, in any case, they would not have spoken. Maybe their chips' memories contained some compromising information and our enemies feared we could decode it... but we are in the speculation field: the rejection crisis damaged their chips' memories so that any other data is unrecoverable.  
- What an ghastly cynicism - Zero frowned - Ther's no way to surgically remove the chip?  
Dr. Zero shook his head sadly.  
- Even if we managed to capture alive the... - he looked down - Subject, and granting that whoever controls him doesn't kill him as he did with Taro and Kiddodo's clones, it's planted too deep, and in one of the most sensitive points: the amygdala. No... even with the most modern technologies and a skill a thousand times superior to mine, it would be impossible to remove it without killing the host or cause him irreparable brain damages.  
Tadashi took a deep breath, several times.  
It was as if he lacked oxygen, as if his heart, again, had been run through by a gunshot and was fighting for each beat, for each breath.  
- So... it's a death sentence - he muttered grimly.  
_Just as I feared._  
For a long moment, no one spoke.  
Mii escaped the arms of the Doctor, trotted hesitantly along the length of the table, rubbed itself against one of the bottles and stopped in front of him. It stared at him with its big green eyes and purred, blew shyly with its paw to his hand and jumped back.  
Tadashi stroked its head, took it in his arms for a while and enjoyed the softness and warmth of its hair against his cheek, then handed it to Yuki.  
- Maybe there's another way - Zero rose - If we took possession of the computer from which our enemies control the chip, we could turn off the mental conditioning and the emission of brain waves at the same time. This should awaken an implanted person without excessive damage, right?  
- It might work - Yattaran put hid glasses on - It will not be easy, however: I don't think we'll find a welcoming committee waiting for us with red carpet, champagne and caviare!  
- I know - Zero agreed through gritted teeth - A line of action of this kind would force us to board the Nemesis without giving it too much damage, with all the risks this entails: we couldn't use the St. Elmo Cannon, while you'd have to do without the prow rostrum; if their main computer and the engine room are located at the same points as the Arcadia's ones, we'd certainly destroy it... and who knows what the consequences could be.  
- We'd have also to divide our forces - Yuki scratched Miii under the neck, thoughtful - If it's true that our enemies have a base on Miraiseria, and that's a certainty as the Federation's satellite photos show no trace of the Nemesis on its surface while Tochiro detects its presence right there, it's more than likely they keep there the devices we are searching.  
- Or that they even sat up a reserve laboratory there - Dr. Machine ran a hand under his chin - I would do something like that in their place. Think about it: should the ship be destroyed or have an accident, they'll risk to lose all their work at one time... and the same if the base was discovered and assaulted.  
- Just what happened to Kurai ten years ago - Tadashi folded his arms on his chest and nodded: it made sense and they'd been rather to consider every possibility.  
- Do you feel up to it? - Zero sat down and drummed his fingers on the table - The risk is high, very high. Although only for a while, I saw the Nemesis in action on Heavy Meldar, and it's a formidable warship: solid, manageable, with great fire-power. In addition, we have no idea who or what we could find on Miraiseria.  
- And no certainty of being able to save the Captain, anyway - added Dr. Zero, grim – They could kill him at any time...  
- Or we may be obliged to do it ourselves - concluded Tadashi.  
Yuki looked at him anxiously. Zero put his hat on his head and pulled the visor over his eyes.  
Yattaran and Dr. Zero stared one the computer keyboard, the other at the ceiling.  
Tadashi stood up and leaned both hands on the table, a mixture of anger and despair wringing his chest and shooking his shoulders.  
- I know you don't want to even think about that - he looked down on his twitching punches and tried to control the trembling of his voice - But we have to. He's no longer himself, he has already killed and will not hesitate to do it again, you saw it all. He pointed his gun even to Mayu, holy smoke! I would gladly let him pierce my heart again if it could get him back to the Harlock I met seven years ago, but getting killed because I can't shoot him would be of no use... to anyone... and the same goes for you, _each_ of you.  
He looked upon the present.  
Every word was a stab to their hearts, he realized it, but he had to make very clear to them that, if they decided for the boarding, they could not afford uncertainties: on Earth, they had nearly killed him and Yuki, on Heavy Meldar it almost fell to Zero.  
He stared at the bandaged hand of the Captain, at the right arm of Yuki and put a hand on his chest.  
- And then, he 'd be the first not to want to keep on living like that, killing strangers and loved ones because someone forces him to do it... you know him, just like me. If we really consider yourself his friends, we must be ready for anything, even... _this_!  
A lump closed his throat and he stopped not to burst into tears. He grasped the hold of the Dragoon, drew it and laid it on the table.  
He took a deep breath and forced himself to hold his emotions under control: it was not the time to get back to be the scared, confused and angry fourteen year old boy he had been at the time of his meeting with Harlock... even if he'd given everything to return to those days and hear again his voice advising, scolding or laughing at him, even if he'd given everything to feel again his hand on the shoulder, the warmth of his back during the battle and yes, even the sting of his slap on the cheek.  
- I'm with you, Tadashi - Zero lifted the visor of his hat and stared into his eyes - Harlock loved freedom above everything else and I think too he'd rather die than be reduced to a puppet. But let's get things straight: I'll give him _that_ freedom only if I'll have no other choice.  
- You will need a technician in the boarding squad - Yattaran tied his bandanna and adjusted his glasses - I'll warn you, though: as gunman I'm not worth a damn, and even less as a fighter. I could not do a scratch to the Captain even if he was naked, blindfolded and bound hand and foot with chains to the bow of the Nemesis! If you content yourselves...  
- Yuki?  
She nodded in silence.  
Tadashi observed her: her beautiful blue eyes were dry and sparkled with determination, but her hands, closed on Harlock's coat split edges, were shaken by a slight tremor.  
_The Captain is ready for anything and will do it, the woman suffers in silence and won't ever forgive herself..._  
Anxiety, sadness, jealousy and desire overwhelmed him: he wanted to slap and hold her in his arms there, at that very moment.  
Instead, he stayed in his seat and looked away.  
Zero cleared his throat and straightened his collar.  
- Well. I guess we have to communicate to our respective crews the decisions we have taken and refine our tactics in detail once we have studied the situation with them. Anything else?  
Yattaran looked at his watch and his frown subsided.  
- It's time to connect with Tetsuro - his stubby fingers flew over the keyboard - I hope he's got good news.  
Tadashi sat down and stretched his legs under the table.  
- Was he the one who asked to talk to us?  
- About a couple of hours ago - pointed Yattaran - I don't know why, but it must be important: he looked tense. I asked him to talk, but he insisted you had to be there too, especially Yuki and Zero.  
Tadashi crossed his arms and let out a long sigh.  
He respected and admired Tetsuro Hoshino: although at the time he was little more than a child, he had been a hero in the war against the Prometheum's Mechanized Men. Without him, perhaps, Earth's history would have been very different; without him, maybe now all those he loved would be mechanical beings without ideas, heart and personality, condemned to an eternity without love and hope. Unfortunately, the bitter experiences he made during the war and his long journey had marked him deeply and aroused in him ideas irreconcilable with his, especially about the Mechanized Men question: Tadashi was for freedom of choice and integration, Tetsuro for the total abolition of mechanical bodies.  
Although in the years after the war with Mazonas they had collaborated several times, because of their differences they could never find that particular tune that would have made them real friends... indeed: to tell the truth, in his presence, Tadashi always felt a vague sense of unease.  
The screen darkened for a moment and Breaker's voice rang out over the speakers.  
- Meeting room, the connection with the Earth is established, over.  
- Yes, Mr. Breaker - Zero draw the microphone to his lips - We're ready.  
- Roger, Captain. Audio activated.  
- What do you mean I have to wait until he has finished, stupid, rude kids! - A scream as shrill powerful has the Captain of the Karyu jump with such violence as to make him beat both knees against the edge of the table - Tonight you're going to eat only a loaf of dry bread with a glass of spring water, you unappreciative morons!  
- It would be an improvement - a male voice murmured before the screen came on, on the face an exasperated Tetsuro.  
Tadashi didn't manage to keep back a laugh, both because he recognized the voice in the background, still screaming insults, and because in the past he had already told Tetsuro about the odd character of that certain little person... without him believing his words, perhaps.  
- Mrs. Masu, it's you?  
- Ah, Tadashi! - a cleaver shiny as a mirror and very sharp-looking appeared under Tetsuro's chin, followed by the head of the old lady - It's about time you let your voice be heard, you reckless daredevil! You had me worried to death, you know? You didn't even think to warn this poor old woman of your beautiful staging, no sir! I bet it didn't even cross your mind! You know you almost gave me a turn with that story of the murder, huh?  
- Mrs. Masu - tried to argue Tetsuro - We should...  
- Shut up! - The cleaver's blade lapped dangerously the young hero of Megalopolis' right nostril - And Yuki? And my little Mayu? How are they?  
- I'm all right, Mrs. Masu - beside him, Yuki laughed for the first time in many days - I'm here.  
- All right my boots - Masu put one knee on the dashboard - You're thin, stiff and white as a frozen fillet of sole, girl! Are you eating enough? That scoundrel there makes you worry? I bet he doesn't let you sleep at night...  
- Mrs. Masu, please... - Tetsuro ran a hand through his thick brown hair in a desperate attempt to act tony.  
Useless. Tadashi knew from experience.  
With Masu, even the fearsome Captain Harlock had never succeeded: a couple of times he even saw him beating a full speed retreat from the kitchen, on his face a terrified expression he never saw him take even in the most desperate situations of the most desperate battles.  
- Hey, Masu, old hen! - laughed Dr. Zero - You don't say anything to me?  
- Oh, there you are, third-rate Doctor! See that you get cracking and figure out why those two there still haven't spawned me a nice little nephew! Maybe it's a physical thing...  
- What?! - Tadashi looked at Yuki, who blushed like a bell pepper.  
- You heard me, boy! Look, I'm almost eighty, now! I can't wait for all eternity that you wake up!  
- But I... we... who took into your head...  
- Give it up, Tadashi – Yattaran laughed - You know that, with her, there's nothing to do: she's always right!  
- You could say that gain, you lazy feckless! I have some even for you, you know? First you come and take me away from my quiet little house, scaring me to death with all those stories of dangerous killers and the Captain that first can't be found, then maybe is imprisoned somewhere and then maybe is gone mad, then you take me here to baby-sit these insatiable boys and the families of those other irresponsible, lazy idiots, and finally you leave without even repair the fridge! But when you come back ,I'll show you! Oh, how I'll show you!  
- Madam, I know I ask you a lot and I'm sorry, but the clock is ticking - a male voice interrupted Masu's stream of invective - Please, Tetsuro and me really need to talk to them in private, now.  
To his great surprise, Tadashi saw Masu turn and smile to the newcomer, yet out of the screen.  
- Of course, my dear! Now come with me for a second, though! I put aside for you some of that pudding of milk-fermented herrings, onions, potatoes and sour cream, just as I promised - she turned back toward them and waved her cleaver-wielding hand as a salutation - I have to go, guys! Do your best to retrieve that blessed man Harlock, I have to give a good lesson to him too, so he'll think twice before disappearing without telling me! And be careful not to get hurt, or you'll have to deal with me!  
With a leap, Masu went out of sight.  
Tetsuro slipped a finger into his collar and pulled out a long sigh of relief.  
- Terrible woman, huh? - Yattaran laughed - By the way, Tetsuro, who was that guy? I never saw the old Masu being so nice to anyone!  
- That was Ifiklìs, my informer - Tetsuro brushed a lock of hair from his forehead and looked at them with his piercing blue eyes - Apparently, he's nut about that horrifying plate of her and she's got a soft spot for him. It's on his request that I contact you.  
- He likes that stuff? Really? - Doctor Zero's eyes widened - He must have a cast iron stomach... or a hunger of years back!  
Tetsuro ignored the joke and lowered his voice.  
- Listen, it's very strange... So far, Ifiklìs had always wanted to deal with me alone, and always in places and times chosen by him; tonight, however, he broke into my house and asked me to talk to whoever is in command of the mission for Harlock.'s capture I don't know what to think.  
Yattaran scratched his head, frowning.  
- Are you sure it's really him?  
- He's not implanted, if that's what you mean... and knows details that only Ifiklìs could recall.  
- Do you trust him?  
Tetsuro ran a hand through his hair.  
- I don't know, Tadashi. I can say I know him by almost ten years now, and yet at the same time I don't know anything about him... not even what he looks like.  
- Of course he's involved in this whole story of Herakles - Yattaran rubbed his chin - I don't think the documentation he got you for the autopsies is accessible to anyone: there were technical specifications of the chip in various processing stages, tests and cross-checks, statistics and results of various experiments... an enormous amount of stuff that was believed to be lost forever, and other never seen before!  
Tetsuro shook his head.  
- I don't know what to tell you. My deal with him includes a "no questions" on my part, both on his true identity and on how he gets the informations.  
- And so it has to be in the future.  
The person who had to be Ifiklìs sat down next to Tetsuro and put on the board a bag whose content or, more likely, smell, had the young hero turn up his nose.  
It was a man of average height and build, wearing ordinary clothes and nothing personal or flashy... except the dark hood covering his face, with the sole exception of the eyes.  
Green, noted Tadashi. Like millions of other people in the world.  
- I contacted you to warn you - Ifiklìs leaned back in his chair – The Ministry is keeping an eye on a pair of apparently former crew members of the Karyu: Shizuo Ishikura and La Sylviana. They're under constant surveillance and an agent of the Space Operations Commander is stuck at their side. If those two are here for reasons different than the official ones, you'd better call them back as soon as possible: those behind the rebirth of Herakles Project are not someone to be trifled with.  
- We're not too, Ifiklìs, I assure you - Zero frowned – About Ishikura and Sylviana, I have nothing to say... unless you decide to lay your cards on the table: there are already too many mysteries in this story, too many people we don't know if we can trust, and with all respect, to come and tell me what I should or should not do without me not even being able to look at you straight in the face is not a good introduction.  
Ifiklìs folded his hands in front of him and remained silent for a moment.  
- I understand your motivations, Captain Zero - he said at the end - And, allow me to say, you're right to suspect: I might be forced to turn my back on you at any time... but the same goes for them.  
- What do you mean? - Zero asked between his teeth.  
Ifiklìs rested his chin on his right hand.  
- Only that you should dig a little in the past of your subordinates. Had you sent them here in Megalopolis in good faith or not, I suggest you to call them back: their lives are at a stake... and one of them may even decide to betray you, should a certain something come out.  
- What's that something? - Tetsuro shot his informer a penetrating gaze that, was it not for the different color of his pupils, would have been identical to Harlock's one.  
- A name - Ifiklìs rose - Just a name on a list.  
- Ifiklìs! - Tetsuro grabbed his source by the arm - Do explain yourself! What name? And what list?  
- Sorry - Ifiklìs freed himself with a jerk and took his packet - I already said too much. I advise you to do as I told you. I'll be back here in forty-eight hours to hear your answer. After that, I shall no longer assure you anything: neither my help nor the safety of those two.  
He walked towards the exit of the room and in a moment disappeared from the monitor's wiew.  
Tetsuro sat down, looking dazed.  
- I can't understand what came over him - he brushed a lock of hair from his eyes - You have no idea what he was talking about?  
Tadashi looked at Zero: if anyone could know something, that was him.  
The uneasiness came over him again when he saw him shake his head heartsick.  
- Again - he heard him mutter - Once again the exhortation not to trust my men... damn it!  
Yattaran jumped when the Captain of the Karyu slammed his wounded fist on the table with a sound somewhere between an angry growl and a moan of pain.  
Yuki stood up and put a hand on his shoulder.  
- Maybe I know it - she smiled the amazed looks of the others - And, if it be as I think, there's nothing to fear.

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


	24. Milk, coffee, honey and Tabasco

Ishikura woke up to the familiar sound of a gun safe being switched off.  
In the faint light of the glass door, he saw Sylviana stand up and flatten on the door frame.  
He remembered the bugs and cameras and decided not to ask any compromising question, at least for the moment: he opened the his bedside table's drawer, picked up his gun, pulled back the covers and reached her, careful not to make noise or hit anything in the gloom.  
Sylviana had her eyes on the door.  
- What is it?- he asked.  
She motioned him to be silent and listen.  
From the entrance, he thought he heard the beep of the external keypad lock.  
Sylviana leaned toward him and put her lips to his ear.  
- Maybe last night we didn't manage to deceive those watching us – she whispered, so low that he barely could make out the words.  
- Of course not - he muttered, as plan - What kind of stupid diversions did you use, in the Red Rose?  
- It always worked, until now... Either these guys have a keen hearing, or they are less hogs than those I come across usually.  
- Forget it and cover me - Ishikura flattened against the wall next to the door, ready to shoot.  
Other beeps, followed by the sound of something being pressed and rubbed against the door and a subdued murmur.  
_A single agent? A whole team? Sure as hell it's not just a thief... _  
He assessed the possible escape routes, his heart pumping faster the blood in his veins: the roof, the fire escape, the apartment next door through the terrace, the bathroom window. Perhaps the roof was the best choice: they would have been uncovered, but the enemy could not trap them in a room, surround them in the alley where the ladder ended or involve other people.  
They would have been forced to aim two moving targets in the gloom and ,with a little luck, to attract the attention of the neighbors and maybe even of the patrols guarding the complex of the base.  
The lock clicked, the door opened and he moved.  
He found himself pointing the gun to a giant bag.  
- Oh, I'm trapped, dammit! - a hoarse laugh - Spare me, please, Silent Hero!  
- What are you doing back here? - Ishikura lowered the weapon, all his tension turning into irritation as the adrenaline went down.  
Minoru dropped the bag and pulled in another huge bag.  
Ishikura looked first at him and then to Sylviana: one sported his trademak cheerful smile, the other her air of sweet and innocent girl sprayed, for the occasion, with a hint of fear.  
He looked away, resigned to another one of their theaters, and opened the bag.  
The smell of fresh bread, ground coffee and freshly baked croissants filled the room.  
- What's all this stuff?  
- I thought of having breakfast with you this morning... and since I was at it, I did some shopping at the Base's Store.  
Ishikura looked out the window and then the wall clock.  
- At four-thirty in the morning? - blurted out in disbelief.  
- They are open all day - Minoru gave him a cheerful pat on the back - And the early bird catches the worm!  
Ishikura ran a hand over his face, more and more exasperated.  
- Do you realize I was going to shoot you, you reckless idiot?!  
- Come on, little brother, every time the same story...  
- Because every time you give me a turn! - he put the bag on the table and folded his arms - And each time over nothing! Why can't you just ring the bell like normal people, when you know I'm home?  
- I thought you were still in bed - Minoru scratched his head and wtched him and then Sylviana from head to toe - And I was right, I see.  
- Oh, Minoru, don't look at me like that! I'm ashamed! - squeaked Sylviana, a virgin blush turning her cheeks red as she pulled the pajama shirt's hem on her bare legs.  
In Ishikura's mind flashed the image of her sitting astride on his pelvis, covered only by light pink lace underwear and aware of being watched while tearing off his shirt as if it was the most normal thing in the world and the word "shame" was not on her dictionary.  
_How the hell can she do it? _  
- Don't be ashamed, my dear. You are wonderful! A vision! - Minoru grabbed her waist, lifted her up and spun - You have a body so perfect that nobody would ever say you're pregnant. Oh, by the way, how is our little Shizuo? Say hello to Uncle, come on!  
He put her down, slid his hands on her hips and leaned his head on her belly with a happy, silly smile.  
- Minoru... I think it's a bit too early for that - Sylviana laughed, more and more red.  
Ishikura lifted his eyes to heavens.  
- Minoru, please...  
- Come on, little brother, stop being jealous! I just want to witness the great and joyous miracle of life!  
- Yeah, yeah, right – he peered inside the bag – All you need is they're female and breathing, then you latch on them octopus-style with an excuse whatever...  
Minoru stood up, very serious.  
- Hey, what do you take me for? Sylviana is sacred to me! She's my beloved little sister, my nephew's future mother! I'd never do anything bad or wrong to her!  
- Shizuo! - Sylviana gave him a stern look, hands on hips – Do you really think that's the way to treat your older brother, especially after he has done you a favor?  
- A favor! But...  
- Tell him, my dear! - Minoru hoisted the bag on the table, pulled out his purchases and began stacking them in the refrigerator or in the pantry, depending on the type - This young scoundrel never respected me a little, even as a child. I should have landed him some slaps every now and then, instead of spoiling him...  
- We could have gone out shopping by ourselves - Ishikura opened the cupboard and took out plates, glasses and cups - Maybe after lunch, at a decent hour...  
- And you'd have the courage to feed your pregnant wife the contents of those decades past due cans you keep in the pantry since you came to live here? - Minoru crossed his arms over his chest with an extremely disapproving look - What's in your brain, cured cod's water?  
Ishikura was about to reply, then stopped with his mouth half open and a cup still in midair.  
_Did he just say..._  
- Wife?  
- Quite so - Minoru pulled the pot from the cupboard and began to load it - It's time for you to take your responsibilities and give some guarantees to your future family, Shizuo. I fixed everything for next Tuesday. We just miss another person to act as maid of honour, but I'm working on it.  
- What?! But... how...  
- Oh, piece of cake! Working for the government has its advantages, you know?  
He remained thunderstruck there, open-mouthed and with cold sweat trickling down his forehead, just like when Sylviana had given the fateful announcement of her pregnancy.  
He looked without really seeing to his proud brother humming cheerfully as he closed the pot and carefully lit the fire, then shifted his gaze on Sylviana.  
If she was surprised or upset, she hid it well: she kept picking at her croissant as if they were talking about the weather.  
- But... but...  
- No buts, Shizuo! - Minoru arranged on the table sugar, honey, milk and juice - You always said that, in the remote case such a thing happened to you, you would have married the girl, right? And I agree: if a man puts a sweet creature like Sylviana in such a situation, becoming her husband and recognizing the child is the least he can do.  
Ishikura continued to look breathless, his throat dry and his forehead even more beaded with sweat.  
Did he really say such a thing?  
Yes, he did. And he couldn't even play the evergreen card of drunkenness as with Grenadier and Rai: that evening he was sober and Minoru was a teetotaler.  
_Me and my big mouth... when will I learn not to pontificate?_  
- I know you, little brother: if you didn't feel anything for her you'd never have brought her here and, above all, you'd never have left the Karyu. You really love her, right?  
Ishikura barely restrained himself from answering what he really thought at that moment, about Sylviana and her fibs and about him and his enthusing over meddling in his businesses.  
He thought of the cameras and the microphones, the mission, the Captain and his companions who were expecteing him with trust, counted to ten, put down the cup, sat down and nodded with the hope that his "poker face" was more convincing than Grenadier, Rai and Eluder used to say when playing.  
- So what's wrong with formalizing your relationship? - Asked Minoru, implacable.  
Ishikura watched Sylviana in search of help and understood immediately that he would have received any: she had tears in her eyes and the ecstatic expression of an innocent girl who had just received the proposal from the love of her life with flowers, music, ring and all the other sillinesses.  
- Nothing... I think - a rat locked in an empty hold and surrounded by twenty hungry cats would feel less trapped than him in that moment, he was dead sure about it.  
- Oh, Shizuo! - Sylviana jumped into his lap, encircled his neck and planted a kiss on his cheek - This is the happiest day of my life!  
- Well, then it's done! - Minoru took the pot from the fire and filled his cup, proud as a leader led in triumph after a great campaign - I can't wait to see you in wedding dress, my dear... and I'm sure that, when that time comes, I'll envy Shizuo like never before.  
_So why don't _you_ marry her? You'd be a perfect couple!_  
Ishikura bit his tongue and wondered what punishment the Military Code contemplated in case of double murder for choking, then an idea to at least try to postpone the horrible fate that strange creature born by his own parents had planned for him so efficiently came into his mind.  
- The fact is... why doing it all so fast? I just wish some time to invite...  
- Maybe you will be relocated soon - Minoru dipped his spoon in the honey pot and stirred his coffee, his expression suddenly serious - I'm here for that too. Last night I was contacted by someone who wants to talk to you in person about it.  
Ishikura felt Sylviana's back stiffen against his chest.  
_There is it! _  
Minoru took a sip of coffee and looked into his eyes.  
- Look, Shizuo... Don't you really want to give it a second thought?  
- To what?  
- To leave the army, or at least the operational task force.  
He had the same worried, sad expression of the night before, the one that always appeared on his face when he came back on the subject... and it happened at least once in each of his leaves.  
- I swear that from now on I won't ask you ever again - Minoru turned the cup in his hands - But at least for once, listen to me without going off at the deep end, okay? The fact is, I don't want to lose you like...  
He stopped suddenly and looked first at him and then at Sylviana.  
- She knows. I told her about Takeshi... and Dad too.  
He looked at them stunned for a moment, then a slight smile emerged on his lips.  
- Well. I was beginning to think you'd never been able to tell anyone, not even under torture – he took a croissant and bit it - I'm glad you went through that phase and found someone to open your heart to, little brother. Really.  
Ishikura ran a finger on the neck where the cut Sylviana had made the night before with the dagger still stung a little. It was not exactly his heart, that she almost opened.  
He watched her and saw her lips curl upward as she poured some milk into her cup.  
- Anyway, let's get back to the subject - Minoru turned the cup over in his hands - I'm worried, Shizuo. It's not normal that someone high in rank like the one who contacted me wants to deal first-person with the transfer of a simple Lieutennat and the fate of a Trainee Doctor... not to mention that your former Captain, to put it mildly, is quite not well-thought-of in my environment. In what trouble did he get you mixed up, this time?  
- The mission of Karyu is top-secret.  
- Oh, I know - Minoru took a sip - I know. Carte blanche, a direct order by the missing Mrs. Kei. No obligation to report to the Ministry, no way for us to track the position of the ship, tactics, timing and way to fulfill the objectives at the discretion of the Captain. And no liability ascribable to the crew, under any circumstances.  
Ishikura stared at him open-mouthed.  
Not even he knew so precisely all the terms of the agreement between Yuki Kei, Tadashi Daiba and Captain Zero. Could it be that his brother was really involved in Herakles as Sylviana suspected?  
No, he didn't want to believe it... and yet...  
- I think you know more than us, Minoru - Sylviana grabbed her coffee and looked at him with a smile.  
He returned her gaze and emptied the cup.  
- To monitor these things is part of my job. And let me tell you that such concessions are not made for petty things, even in times of war.  
- Even if we are out of it, we can't talk - Sylviana dipped her spoon in the honey and began to stir - For yours and our safety, you understand it?  
He clasped his hands and stared at the ceiling.  
- I just want to help you avoid problems. If I could intermediate...  
- There's no need - Ishikura folded his arms across his chest - I have nothing to hide, I know the way of the world and I'm more than capable of discussing with one of your colleagues or anyone else without putting myself, you or Sylviana in trouble. I don't have six years any more, Minoru, and even then I didn't use to hide behind your back!  
- I know, I know...  
- Then why don't you trust me? Why do you want to intervene?  
- It's not you the one I don't trust - Minoru rubbed his hands - But your Captain.  
- And what do you know about Captain Zero? You never even met him once!  
- I know enough to have gained an insight - Minoru ran a hand through his hair - Records, mission reports, sentenceses of the Military Court, psychiatric accounts and feedbacks of any kind... I could write his biography by how many things I read about him in all these years. He's a good soldier, but also naive, reckless and easy to deceive for someone who knows how to pluck his heartstrings. I fear he jumped into a task outside his capabilities against enemies beyond his means and that he could drag you to the bottom with him. It's not normal what is happening, Shizuo, that's why I want you to draw you out of it as soon as possible... and in such a way as to leave no doubt about it!  
He had tears in his eyes and his jaw was shaken by a tremor he was unsuccessfully trying to control. He had seen him like that only twice: the day Takeshi left for the front and the one the guards of the Military Tribunal had come to take over their father after the sentence of life imprisonment.  
He grabbed his hand and looked at him straight in the eye.  
- Who called you, Minoru? Why are you so upset?  
He bowed his head and clasped his fingers.  
- My direct superior: the Space Operations Commander.  
- Sven Arngeir.  
Sylviana put down the spoon and took a sip of coffee.  
She had said that name as if she had expected it till the beginning and it surprised Ishikura: although Arngeir was one of the few officers still in service in a prominent position since the time of the first Herakles Project, he was not one of their main suspects; nothing had ever led to him during the investigation followeing the scandal of the video and nothing ever suggested that he even just looked kindly upon that monstrosity.  
- I have nothing to hide and nothing to be afraid of, Minoru – he tried to reassure him - I will hear what he has to say, then I will decide what to do.  
- Don't you get it, Shizuo? - Minoru broke free from his grasp and stood up, more and more upset - I'm telling you that behind his involvement a wide range of interests could be at stake! Indeed, they're for sure and whoever's behind all this may decide to get tough! Do you know what's the most recurring nightmare I do for ten years now, huh? I dream of the day they brought back Takeshi's remains... it's just that, instead of Dad, I'm the one in that damn hold, _alone_... and the name on the box when they hand it to me is _yours_!  
Ishikura pursed his lips: on the one hand he had a great desire to tell him everything, just to have someone he could really trust; on the other, he knew that dragging him in that affair could put him in great danger... not to mention the burden of pain and bad memories that having again to do with the Herakles Project would re-emerge.  
They never spoke about it explicitly, but he knew that for his brother too that period hadn't been easy. When they were together he was cheerful and relaxed, but he always suspected that his heart still bore scars that would never heal completely... and that blowoff fully confirmed his assumptions.  
- What's in the military life to push people like Takeshi and you to risk dying alone, who knows where and in those horrible ways? And why it has to be just you the one doing it first person? - Minoru struck his fist on the table and a few drops of coffee stained the tablecloth - I can't take it any more, Shizuo: sometimes I feel I'm going crazy... and the thing that scares me the most is that, by consistently living like that, I'm starting to understand Dad's reasons!  
Ishikura gasped: it was as if someone had punched him in the stomach... a very strong and well-timed stroke.  
He looked at his brother in dismay, not knowing what to say while resentment, guilt, pain and suffering tore his soul.  
Sylviana balanced herself on his knees, took a long breath and leaned toward Minoru.  
- Shizuo is a daredevil, I agree – she took a long sip of her milky coffee and sat the cup down - He's also naive, stubborn, petulant and moody. He's got so many flaws that listing them would take at least half a day and sometimes he's so irritating to just make you want to tie him naked upside down and beat the living daylight out of him until you get a little common sense in that empty blockhead of him...  
- Well... thank you very much!  
- Let me finish - she turned to him, put his finger to his lips and turned back to his brother - But he's a grown man, a capable soldier and he can look after himself, believe me. He fought at war, traveled to the ends of the known universe and he's still here, right? You should try to trust him a little more and let him make his own choices, if you really love him. As for you – she planted her index in his chest - See you don't take unnecessary risks, think about what you're doing before you throw yourself headlong in trouble and, above all, don't take your brother's love too much for granted, you are lucky enough to still have a family, make the most of it and enjoy it, while you can.  
For a moment, he thought he saw again on her face the sad, distant expression of the night before, but he couldn't swear to it because she immediately got up and, when she turned to him, she had a beaming smile on her lips.  
- And now – she stood up, locked his brother's arm and dragged him close to him - Hold hands and make peace! I don't want fights between my husband and my brother-in-law so few days before the wedding!  
- But we were not fighting! And regarding the wed...  
- Shizuo! - Sylviana put her hands on her hips and raised a threatening eyebrow in – Do as I told you, or tonight youwill suffer the bagpipes torture!  
He winked at Minoru, who immediately burst into giggles.  
For a moment, Ishikura wondered what the hell Sylviana was alluding to and what Minoru found so amusing in it, then scratched his head, sighed and held out his arm.  
In the end it didn't really matter... not more than the fact that, at least for the moment, the storm seemed to be passed.  
- So, peace, Truth?  
- I'd rather do it my way - Minoru shook his hand - But I'll try to trust your judgment, Silent Hero. Peace.  
Ishikura tried to give him a reassuring smile, but the words he had said still burned inside him and he was also concerned about the mission: if Commander Arngeir was really involved, he could be a source of serious trouble, for him and Sylviana, sure... but also for his brother.  
Maybe that crazy schizoid was right: he'd been better stay with the Captain and his companions and let her deal with those things together with someone else less involved...  
Yeah, but who? And then, was he really sure he would not regret it anyway?  
_The hell... better not to think about it! I'm here, anyway. _  
He shook his head to clear it and sat back down. His stomach growled.  
He realized that, between a discussion and the other, he had been the only one not to touch food.  
He had just grabbed the cup when Sylviana snatched it from his hand and ruffled his hair.  
- Get ready, my love: we have to go out!  
_Precisely. And I won't touch any, it seems... _  
- Where would you like to go, my dear?  
- What do you mean, where? - Sylviana put her cup down and marched to the bathroom – Shopping, it's obvious!  
- Again!  
The terrible memories of the stops on Mars and Jupiter, the endless waiting in front of the windows and out of dressing room, all the stupid chatter with shopgirls and cashier about combinations, colors, sizes, makeup and other incomprehensible women things and top of it the endless walk up and down the main streets from end to end between the crowd jammed with all kind of bags and packs tore a pathetic whimper out of him.  
He would have preferred a thousand timesto repeat in sequence and without a moment of respite each test of the selection to be admitted in the Space Forces: four weeks of travel and navigation, as much of patrol techniques, demolition and weaponry, two of training in space and other four of survival in extreme conditions and under torture were nothing compared to that torture.  
- You don't want us to get married in pajamas, I hope - she said from behind the door while the water began to flow.  
Minoru raised an eyebrow and bit into another croissant.  
- She has a point.  
- But... but you already bought a lot of stuff during the Galaxy Express stops!  
- Nothing appropriate – she cut short.  
- Let me at least have breakfast...  
- Finish my milky coffee, if you like. But I'll be ready soon.  
- You come with us, big brother? - he looked to Minoru hopeful: another pair of arms and the reassuring presence of another man would have been a true comfort.  
He stood up, looked at his watch and shook his head.  
- I have to go. But tonight I'll come round and we'll see each other tomorrow. The meeting with the Commander is for eleven am, so make sure you're ready to go.  
Ishikura nodded and emptied Sylviana's cup in four quick gulps.  
That milky coffee had a strange taste. Very strange. Too strange...  
A fire broke out in his mouth, tears blurred his sight.  
- Sylviana – he coughed - What did you put in it?  
- Oh, the usual - she emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a blue bathrobe embroidered with the symbol of Fleet Units on the pockets, his - Coffee, milk, honey, a little hint Tabasco. Half a glass of whiskey would have been OK too, but in my condition...  
- You should try with chutney, my dear - Minoru watched her entranced as he pulled his jacket - Tamarindo, chilli, onion, ginger, salt, sugar and coriander leaves: it could wake up the deads!  
_Yes, and would kill a normal person amongst blinding stomach pains_, thought Ishikura as he swigged from the kitchen faucet, all his appetite disappeared as if by magic and the bleak prospect of having to cook any meal by himself, unless he didn't want to risk poisoning.  
He greeted his brother, brushed his teeth and washed his face, entered in his room... and she was again wearing only her provocative, low-cut underwear. Lilac lace, this time, even more diaphanous and close-fitting.  
The blush rose from his neck to redden his cheeks and he stifled a curse.  
He looked down at the suitcase and began to rummage trough it looking for something to put on, then turned away. He changed in a flash and left the room in silence.  
Could she really be so delighted in embarrassing him?  
He was starting being afraid so: that whole pregnancy and wedding stuff, her "diversion"... had it not been for the mission, real and dangerous, and for the few moments she had shown him her serious and even ruthless side, he would by now have been convinced that, for her, all of it was nothing more than a game, a sort of holiday as the one she proposed on Heavy Meldar...  
But even then, he recalled, there had been a purpose behind all her actions.  
While she hung on his arm and he closed the door, he prayed to himself that Kei Yuki and Captain Zero had not made a colossal blunder by putting her by his side.  
- So, what do you think? - he asked as they descended the stairs.  
- He's controlling us.  
- Who, Arngeir?  
- Don't act dumb - she buttoned the collar of her jacket with a two fingers deft movement - Your brother. Maybe on behalf of Arngeir, maybe not.  
The icy blast she gave him made him shudder.  
Or maybe it was the fact that, this time, a part of him tended to agree with her?  
- Again with this story?  
- Think - she adapted her walking to his and pressed against him - All that time long he did nothing but try to get some reaction from you and me. When he told me I didn't even look pregnant and when he announced he had prepared everything for our wedding, what did you think he was doing?  
- Flirting with you and meddling with me... as usual.  
Her eyes hardened.  
- This is why you shouldn't be in a mission if you're involved on an emotional level. Nothing could be more true than love makes you blind...  
- I can see very well – he hissed, piqued.  
- Then you're lying to yourself. He was testing us: if my embarrassment was too much, if we opposed to the idea of getting married and the confidence between us had not seemed real, or covering would have been off.  
- So, you think it was all just an act?  
- Maybe he thinks we're in love and expecting a child; I think he was completely convinced when you told him that I knew about your father and your brother. But he suspects we're still under Zero's command and we're neck-deep in something big involving his boss. He was sincere when he said he was worried about you...  
- And when he said he understood our father's reasons?  
Ishikura was surprised he even asked the exact moment the question came out of his mouth, but was even more surprised to see he really wanted to know her opinion.  
- Yes - Sylviana pursed her lips – He really thought so.  
No doubt about her judgment crossed his mind and that not only seemed strange to him, but got him infuriated with himself: it was of his brother they were talking about and Sylviana was little more than a stranger, an occasional adventure partner he was not the least in tune with, an irritating, childish and noisy person... or maybe not.  
Perhaps the real Sylviana was the one standing beside him at the moment, the cold, lethal, careful and prudent spy, willing to do anything to achieve his goal. Or maybe it was the wistful and vulnerable girl he had catched a glimpse of while speaking about his family. Or the sex bomb. Or maybe all those women together. Or none of them.  
_What the hell do I care, anyway?_  
He stuffed his hands in his pockets, confused, and looked sideways at her reflection in the window in front of which they had stopped. Now she was the suave girlfriend, all optimism, effusions and soft smiles.  
- Do you like that model, honey-bunny? - she asked cheerful after a while.  
He realized only then that the window was the one of a formal dress shop, full of those fluffy, white clothes that seemed to be made of many overlapping meringues. He jumped.  
- But...  
She squeezed his arm.  
- Speak softly, do not turn suddenly and do nothing rash – she warned - We're shadowed.  
He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.  
- Since when?  
- Since we left the house - she snorted - Sure you really suck as a spy. White male in his thirties, fifty yards behind us, brown, about six feet tall, reversible jacket and dark brown cap with visor. Every time we stopped or slowed down, he did the same. I'll bet even my pants that by now he's watching us with the old trick of the window acting as a mirror on the road. Then there is the female: Asian, between thirty-five and forty, long black coat and white scarf over her face, about five hundred feet on the other side of the road. Until some moments ago she was just stuck to us, then I turned around a few times and... hocus-pocus! She put distance between us at once to avoid the risk of us becoming a hot enemy.  
- A what?  
- A hot enemy: someone suspecting being followed who take precautions and gives you a lot of headaches. But we don't care to shake off them and their partners, so let's keep playing the lovebirds preparing the nest. By the way, honey, I don't like that dress at all: too candy-style... and then it's so pumped... I'd like something enhancing more my beautiful legs and exquisite décolleté.  
Ishikura looked up at the heaves. The fact he could never tell when she was serious or joking would have driven him mad, sooner or later.  
He pulled her close and pretended to kiss her cheek.  
- You don't really want us to get married, do you? - He whispered against her ear.  
He hoped that all that wedding shopping stuff was just an excuse to talk about the mission away from cameras and microphones.  
- If it serves the purpose, yes - she murmured, impassive, while stroking his neck - Don't worry: it's just a string of words in front of a functionary and a ring exchange. Nothing to write home about.  
- Maybe for you. I take oaths seriously, you know?  
She began to walk slowly.  
- All we have to do is just neither exercise the conjugal rights nor consummate, or at least declare so – she winked - We do it in the year, we forward a formal request for cancellation and we're back among singles as if nothing ever happened.  
She said it so confidently he could not help himself.  
- You did it already? - he asked, puzzled – You've been...  
She laughed.  
- Trust me, you don't want to know, Boy Scout. And then, a true woman should have some dark secrets...  
A caustic smile surfaced his lips to that last boasting.  
- And a true man not? - sure she hadn't been very lenient with his.  
- Not with me – she flexed the dagger's wrist and grinned – It wouldn't be convenient for him... and the speech applies not only to mission partners.  
Perhaps he'd be better to change the subject: that one was taking a strange turn.  
- What do we do with Arngeir?  
- It seems obvious to me - she stood at the window of a jewelry and pretended to observe the rings - We proceed according to the plan: once we're inside, one of us deals with the Captain while the other tries to find what we seek. Although we're not sure about him being our leeker, it's a good opportunity to sneak into the Ministry.  
- Could be a trap.  
- No doubt. But opportunity only knocks once, my dear. And then, the longer we wait, the more we risk that our enemies smell a rat: it's not easy to pretend around the clock, even for a professional fibber like me.  
Ishikura nodded thoughtfully. She was right: it was better to get it over as quickly as possible before their covering began to wobble, before anyone else was involved in that horrible story... and before he decided once and for all to strangle his partner, who had entered the store and was now paying something with his credit card.  
Definitely she didn't know what private property was.  
When she came out, she dropped a small bag in his hands and he glanced at the contents: two simple gold wedding rings without stones or engravings tied in a white ribbon.  
- What would I do with these?  
- If all goes well, you can keep it as a keepsake – she grabbed his arm again with a wry smile - What is it, you'd have really liked best I bought that horrible dress? Come on, play alonf: it would not be credible if we came back without buying anything and I'm tired... it's freezing cold, here.  
- Of course. We're almost in November. It was strange the heat last night, indeed.  
Ishikura relaxed and reversed the course. After all, he was glad that torture had lasted less than he expected, enough to be willing to overlook the umptheenth violation of his personal effects.  
- It is always hot, on Heavy Meldar - Sylviana wrapped her arms around her waist - I'm no longer used to it.  
Ishikura watched her: she was wearing a light jacket and her dress, low-cut and tight, seemed to be made with tissue paper. Now she was Sylviana the helpless child.  
_How many faces has this woman?_  
- Alright...  
He drew a long breath, unbuckled his belt and put his arm around her shoulders, covering her with the brim of his long military coat.  
She looked at him in amazement.  
- And what would that be? - she asked with a mischievous smile.  
He looked away, knowing he was about to blush for the umpteenth time.  
- I'm a gentleman, what do you think? - he muttered - And then, it would not be credible if I let my pregnant girlfriend freeze to the bone... I'm doing it for the mission.  
She placed an arm around his waist.  
- As a spy and an actor you really suck – she laughed softly - But maybe you're not as hopeless as I thought...

_Disclaimer: fanfic based on the world and the characters of "Captain Harlock" (Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Hārokku "and" Cosmo Warrior Zero "(Zero Kosumo Wōriā), created by and © Leiji Matsumoto.  
All rights to these characters are © Leiji Matsumoto, Toei Animation, Enoki FIMS and probably a bunch of other people. Their use in this story does not imply support, approval or permission from their part. Since this story was conceived and written by a fan for other fans, please do not plagiarize it, give me my credit as author when publishing elsewhere and do not to redistribute it for a fee. Thank you! _


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